Enemy of The State
by Dalek Prime
Summary: Sashi has been brainwashed by the Foot Clan and has been turned into their ultimate weapon. Now that the most dangerous woman on the planet has been turned into the perfect killing machine, every hero on the planet is a target. Can Penn and his new allies save Sashi from herself, or will she be forever a slave to the Shredder's will? One thing is certain: no one is safe.
1. The Black Sky

**A/N: I don't own Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero or anything else mentioned. Also, this is a fan-fic adaptation of the comic Wolverine: Enemy of the State, which is an excellent story you should all check out. In any case, I hope you all enjoy this story!**

* * *

Chapter One: The Black Sky

"You know, when you said that you wanted to hang out my house, this wasn't what I had in mind" Penn noted as he took his stance

Sashi only confidently smirked back at that remark as she too got into her own fighting stance. They had been sparring for nearly an hour in the garage of Penn's house for about an hour now, and from the bruises on the former part-time hero's body, it was clear that he was losing to his sidekick turned girlfriend. While Pen as an adapt fighter in his own right, his lover simply outclassed him every aspect. Well the redhead enjoyed these little matches between them, though honestly, he'd prefer a simple movie date every now and again like a normal couple would do. but he knew that Sashi Kobayashi wasn't a normal girl and he wouldn't change a thing about her.

After six straight losses in a row to his girlfriend, Penn was looking for at least on victory over her, besides, it was getting a tad emasculating to him. The two stood in silence as they faced off with one another for what seemed like a moment trapped in time itself. The flaw the last few times beforehand was that Penn made the first move and thus gave Sashi the opportunity to use his own strength against him and thereby claim another victory over her boyfriend. The former part-time sidekick remained still like a statue, her muscles taunt and rigid, ready for whatever move her redheaded lover was going throw at her. after so many sparring matches with Penn, she had pretty much figured out which attack he was going to make—too bad he didn't learn any of her moves at this point.

While Penn had originally intended to wait for the right moment to strike, his pride got the better of him and he instead ended up making the first move like so many times before. He rushed toward her before leaping in mid-air in order to deliver a flying kick, but the former part-time sidekick was more than prepared for this. First, she sidestepped the oncoming kick before taking his leg that was now flying past her and fling her lover's entire body across the garage. Fortunately, Penn corrected himself in mid-air and landed feet first back on the ground, the only problem was that he now had his back turned to her. Just as Penn had turned around, he saw an oncoming karate chop headed straight toward his neck that he had barley any time to block.

The part-time hero then attempted to whirl around and punch his girlfriend in the ribs to shake her up, but she easily spun to the left sent a high-kick into his kidneys that made him fall to his knees where Sashi delivered another spin-kick across her the ginger's face that sent him collapsing to the ground. Whenever they spared with one another, the two lovers didn't pull any punches when they had their little matches—it was probably the reason why they had so few arguments between them. before Penn could get back to his feet, Sashi suddenly straddled the redhead's hips as she placed herself atop his waist and looked down at him with a lustful grin on her face.

"And now, to claim my prize" she proclaimed with a hunger laced in her voice

When the newly form couple weren't sparring or trying to have a normal date, they were usually giving into more primal urges more often than not. It was a strange mix of love and lust when they got like this—and usually after they finished their matches no less. Penn only smirked back up his girlfriend as she brought her head downward until their lips met and allowed them to begin their make-out session. Penn was a gently lover, but Sashi was anything but gentle whenever they made love, it was just another quirk that made the boy love her so much. They were like fire and ice, opposites that should not for all intents and purposes work, but yet somehow, they were in a fully functioning relationship. Perhaps it was because in a strange they both completed one another, Sashi depended on Penn to keep her in emotional state check while Penn relied on his lover to keep him from going insane. Even with their jobs as part-time heroes over, they still needed each other to go their daily lives of normalcy.

"For a hero, you're a really bad girl" the former hero noted before her lips captured his once again

"You haven't seen me be bad yet, Zero" she informed him as her kisses began to trail down to his neck "Let me show you how— "

"Who wants lemonade!"

The sound of his mother's voice as she burst into the garage with a tray of lemonade made Penn and his lover scramble off of one another in a frenzied panic and jump back to their feet as if nothing had transpired between.

"Looks like you two worked up quite a sweat" Vonnie mentioned

"You have no idea, Mrs. Zero" Sashi replied, inwardly laughing at her little innuendo as she and Penn each took a glass of the liquid

"Well, I hope all that sparring made you both hungry" the retired hero said "I just finished making bacon casserole for dinner tonight. You're more than welcome to stay and eat with us, Sashi"

When Penn told his parents about his about his relationship with his former sidekick, they couldn't be happier for their son. After all, Vonnie was a part-time sidekick before Sashi took her place, and that was how she met her husband, so in an odd way, history had repeated itself.

"Thank you, ma'am, but I should be getting back to home before it gets any later" the violent girl answered politely, "My parents may have accepted that I'm more than capable of looking out for myself, they still tend to worry"

"Come on Sash, I'll walk you out" her boyfriend offered

Being the gentleman that he was, Penn wanted to at least walk his lover to front door of his house, though granted he could've simply opened the garage door, but he wanted to make his time with the former part-time sidekick last as long as he possible could. He would've walked her all the way home if he could, but Sashi hated feeling like she needed an escort home. Soon enough, they reached the front door where stood at the front porch for several moments, merely enjoying one another's company.

"You sure you can't stay any longer?" Penn inquired

"I wish I could, but you know how my parents get" his girlfriend replied

"Then until tomorrow, my lady" the former part-time hero said with a smile

With that, Penn bid farewell to his love with a deep, passionate kiss that she returned with just as much intensity. After several seconds of drawing out the kiss as long they could before there were finally forced to part lips. Sashi then took a few steps away from her boyfriend before turning around with a troubled look on her face.

"Can I ask you something?" she began in an unsure tone "do you ever miss being a hero?"

"What makes you say that, Sashi?" her boyfriend asked in concern "Do you miss it?"

"Honestly? Sometimes" she confessed "I mean, how are we supposed to have normal lives after seeing and doing everything we've done for the multiverse?"

"We'll just have to make the most of it, I guess" Penn reasoned "But hey, at we got each other, right?"

"I guess so" his lover answered in slightly disheartened tone before asking "You still haven't my question"

Penn paused for moment, as if he wasn't mentally prepared for that question and was struggling for a proper answer.

"I…don't" he finally said to her "The reason why I became a hero in the first place was to get my parents back, and now that I have them again, I just want to live a normal life"

Sashi turned away for a moment in an attempt to hide her look of disappointment on her face, but Penn more than got a good look at her let down facial expression.

"I'm sorry Sash, but that's just how I feel" he furthered "You're not upset with that, are you?"

"No, I understand where you're coming from, PZ" Sashi agreed, putting on a clearly forced smile as she did "And look at this way, if none of this ever happened then we would've never met"

"I thought looking on the bright side of things was my job" the former hero said with a chuckle

"Maybe your rubbing off on me" his girlfriend surmised with a grin before leaning in for another kiss

This kiss felt slightly different this time, like she trying to throw off her disappointment with his confession to her. before he could speak any further on the subject, the former part-time sidekick had already turned away, giving him a smile back and a wave as she departed from the Zero's home. Penn returned her gesture with one of his own, but while he kept a bright smile on his face, on the inside however, he felt like a sack of stones had just landed in his stomach for lying right to the love of his life's face.

In all honesty, Penn missed it, he missed the whole thing. While it was true that he initially took on the job as a guardian of the multiverse in order to rescue his mother and farther, but in due time, he became enthralled—almost addicted even—to being a hero. He wasn't a thrill seeker by nature, but when that rush came from being in the middle of a firefight for the fate of the multiverse, it was his version of heaven. Now here he was, having everything he ever wanted and yet still wanting a challenge in his life. It wasn't just him, but he also saw that his parents were feeling the drawbacks of being heroes, true they were happy being a family again, but they needed something in their now mundane lives to fulfill them after spending months in a place that tried to kill them every five seconds. It wasn't just that he had lied to Sashi, but he was also trying to lie to himself that he didn't need that part of his life anymore, for if he did admit it, then he would be truly miserable—not to mention making Sashi feel equally horrible in wanting their heroic lives back.

As Penn tried to come to grips with his self-denial, he suddenly noticed someone walking down across the street just as Sashi had already disappeared from his line of sight. The stranger was a tall man with a bushy red handle-bar mustache that grew out into muttonchops. He wore a white and green button up shirt with blue jean shorts with brown boots and a brown cowboy hat. Penn was sociable person by nature, but he had never seen this man before whenever he was in town, then again, there was a good chance that he was new to Middleburg. The newcomer noticed that the teen was looking at him and tipped his hat to him before continuing on his way down the street.

With that one seemingly polite gesture, a chill ran up Penn's spine. It was like some sixth sense was to warn of this man, thus making him tense up in anticipation for an attack he knew wasn't going to come. The stranger simply walked away as Penn keep his eyes on him until he was out of view. Once the stranger was gone, he went back inside his home to eat with his parents, all the way trying to shake off this feeling of dread that now sat in the pit of his stomach.

However, once the man knew that the boy had stopped looking at him he quickly hid behind a nearby house before pulling out his cellphone and make a call. As per his master's orders, he had been tailing the three teens for weeks and now to it was time to strike.

"Master" he began "the girl is returning to her home now"

"Excellent" came a deep, cold voice on the other end of the line "I will see to it that she receives a welcome she will not soon forget. In the meantime, inform the doctor that we are on schedule and that his device had better be prepared by the time I return"

"Your word is law, Master Shredder" the man obeyed

* * *

 _Breath in._

 _Breath out._

Those were the only words that ran through Randy's mind as he sat cross legend besides a koi pound that the Nomicon had constructed along with a garden that now surrounded him all in order to help him in focusing solely in his meditation. Randy had been at this for nearly an hour and half now and while he felt like a total shoob when he began this training exercise, once he got into a groove, he began to feel this sense of peace form within him that he had never experienced before. with each breath, he could almost feel that his other senses were expanding with every passing second. With everything that had transpired recently, he could use a moment like to look back at his past victories as well prepare himself for whatever laid before him in his future.

In one glorious moment, the young hero had defeated both Julian's dark side and his long nemesis, the Sorcerer—though technically it was more luck with the latter of the two wins, but the freshman took it regardless. However, even with his greatest enemy defeated, there was still the matter of dealing with Mcfist's robots every now and again. At first, Randy had assumed that the billionaire would cease his war on the Ninja since the Sorcerer was no more, hence their deal was obviously. But now Mcfist's quest to destroy the Ninja had become one of a personal vendetta for running his chance to gain superpowers from the dark wizard. While the threat of the billionaire's machines still loomed over him, Randy could felt as though that there was an even greater evil somewhere out there just waiting for the right moment to rear its head.

It seemed as though that the Nomicon shared his fears, considering that it had decided to step up his training recently. However, it wasn't so much as training him in new abilities, but rather as a way of expanding his mind. Randy was of course reluctant at first to this new method of teaching from the ancient book, but soon he began to accept it and within a matter of days, Randy had begun to feel stronger both physically and spiritually and was ready for whatever unknown dangers would come his way in the future.

 _Breath in._

 _Breath out._

As Randy continued his breathing exercises, a figure slowly crept up behind him, drawing a dagger as he did. Randy remained still as he sat in his meditating position, his eyes still shut and seemingly unaware of the danger that was slowly approaching from behind him. The assailant brought his blade down upon the teen's back, but just as his knife was about to touch his skin, randy whirl around at an almost blinding speed and grabbed hold of his attacker's wrist and twist before tripping his would be-assassin with a sweeping kick that took his legs out from under. With his opponent down, Randy jumped to his feet and took a stance to prepare for whatever else the assailant would throw at him.

"Well done, Randy" the first Ninja congratulated as his student help off the ground "your skills haven truly sharped over these past few weeks"

"Thank you, sensei" Randy replied with a bow in respect

In the recent weeks of Randy's new level of training, the first Ninja, Nosu, had been appearing to his successor in a physical form to help teach the boy some of his techniques and fighting styles in order to better combat both Mcfist's machines and whatever else would come his way. Admittedly, Nosu was a hard teacher to learn from—Randy had the bruises to prove that. But he was also a fair master and allowed his student to rest when he needed to do so and nothing but respect and pride for the boy as he watched him train. Rather than let his arrogance blind him, the freshman had become more than willing now to become someone truly worthy of the title of the Ninja of Norrisville—though granted, he still had a tendency to misread the Nomicon's wisdom and make matter worse, but he was still a work in progress.

"With your new skills, you will be able to challenge your future enemies" Nosu said

"Yeah about that" the current Ninja mentioned "Who exactly is this 'new enemy' you and the Nomicon keep going about? I thought the Sorcerer was our major enemy and now that he's gone, who else is there?"

The first Ninja paused for a moment. Randy could tell from his eyes that he was unsure if should tell the teen anything, but finally after several seconds of silence, he spoke.

"Very well then" he conceded "It's high time you knew about who true enemy is, as well as our ties to it"

Nosu then gestured toward the koi pound, to which Randy looked at. Within seconds, the clear blue water turned blood red as the koi fish began to float belly-up toward the surface before they began to rot and decay away in a matter of seconds. The young hero let out a gasp in horror at this. the Nomicon had created images before in order to illustrate its point in the past, but never to this graphic extent before. suddenly, the images began to twist and form within the bloody water until it created images of ancient Japan in a state of war.

"Centuries ago, mighty shoguns and generals tore the land asunder with their armies of Samurai" Nosu began "It was from this chaos that an organization of Ninjas was formed to carry out secret missions such as espionage, sabotage and assassination"

The images of way shifted into a single image of what looked like a single foot.

"The Foot Clan" the first Ninja explained before continuing with his story "When the wars in Japan had ended, the leaders of the Foot Clan turned their attention toward their own desires for conquest. But they did not seek to rule in person, they instead sought to rule as the power behind the counts and thrones of the Kingdome. To achieve this goal, they committed the most dishonorable of deeds to attain what they wanted"

The pound then began to show Randy flashes images of men, women and even children being butchered by the ninja clan. Up until this very moment, Randy thought he seen true evil while facing off with the likes of Mcfist and the Sorcerer, but as he continued to gaze upon the atrocities that the Foot committed to achieve their plans, it made the teen rethink his views beforehand.

"It was because of these horrors the clan had done that several of its members chose to break away from the Foot's influence" Nosu furthered before his tone became heavy with guilt "I was among these few"

Randy's mind suddenly stopped all of its thoughts upon hearing those words. He turned to look at his sensei with dumbstruck confusion written all over his face. Nosu's eyes only held shame, knowing that his student's opinion of him would change the moment he spoke those words.

"You were a member of the Foot?!" he said in shock

"Only until I realized that the clan I once served was truly evil" Nosu answered before going back to his history "we knew we could not fight the clan, so we instead took a ship headed for the west where we bought a plot of empty land and formed a new town"

"Wait, hold up a sec" Randy stopped in order to understand what he had just heard "Your telling me that you helped to found Norrisville?"

"We wanted to call it something closer to our native homeland, but our American investor, Charles Norris, insisted that we name the town after him as our way of showing him gratitude" his sensei said, "but our peace was soon threated when the leaders of the Foot Clan summoned a beast from the neither world to destroy us and our new home"

"The Tengu" Randy realized, to which his teacher nodded as a sign to show that he was correct "They summoned it?"

"They did" Nosu confirmed solemnly "We defeated the demon…but at a high cost. When the battle was over, the Foot took our clan's depleted numbers as a victory and ceased to trouble us ever again, after that, we assumed that our lives would be forever left alone in the peace we had fought so long for"

"Then the Sorcerer showed up" Randy gathered

His gave another slow nod as way to say yes.

"While my clan was utterly wiped out, the Foot's numbers only grew as the years rolled by" the first Ninja continued "But another Ninja clan, the Yoshi Clan, rose up and stopped them before they grew to powerful. Sadly however, this was only temporary, as their clan's heir, Oroku Saki, reformed the Foot years later and took on the mantle of the Shredder. Now the Foot Clan's poison infects all corners of the globe. Wherever there is power, the Foot pull their strings like puppets"

"So, here's a question" the new Ninja piped up "Why hasn't the Ninja ever tried to stop these guys?"

"Because if this was a war, then they have already won it" Nosu answered "and soon, I sense that they shall soon have the mightiest power ever known under their control"

"What, like a nuke or something?" Randy wondered

"The Foot have no need for such things" his sensei denied "the weapon the seek while give them dominance they seek over all who attempt to crush them: The Black Sky"

"What the juice is a Black Sky?" the teen questioned

"The ultimate weapon" Nosu replied "If they manage to attain the Black Sky, then no force on earth will be able to stop them"

"Then why are we just standing around her for? Let's go get this Black Sky thingy before the Foot do!" Randy demanded

"Your training is not yet complete, Randy" his teacher reminded him "If you face the Foot Clan now, then you will surely die, and the legacy of the Ninja will die with you. The reason you are begin trained now is because I want you to be ready for the day they should ever come to take the Nomicon for their own purposes"

"I don't care!" Randy snapped back "if what you're saying about this thing being able to kill a ton of people is true, then we can't let it fall into the Foot's feet—I mean hands!"

"But— "

"But nothing, Nosu!" the current Ninja cut his teacher off angrily "You made the Ninja to protect the innocent from all evil's, and if I have to take on an evil organization of ninjas then that's what I'm gonna do! Now the only question I have for you is: are you going to help me or not?"

Nosu remained silent for several moments before finally giving his answer.

"I will" he said

"Where do I find the Black Sky?" Randy asked, "Come to think of it, what does this 'ultimate weapon' look like anyway?"

"I do not know what the Black Sky looks like" Nosu admitted "But I know it currently resides in the town of Middleburg"

"Then that's where I need to go" the young hero affirmed "I'm gonna need a schlomp outta here"

"I really wish you didn't call it that" his sensei groaned before clearing his voice "in any case, be safe, my student"

"I will, sensei" Randy replied

And with that, a bright light over took Randy as his subconscious was thrown back into his body, which was still in a vegetative state. The moment her returned to his body, Randy's eyes snapped open to see a sight he was not expecting. Standing before him with an open marker was his best friend, Howard, who was currently trying to suppress a fit of laughter. Even though it was a Saturday, Randy decided to continue his training a bit more instead of playing Grave Punchers seven, which was probably the reason as to why his heavy-set friend was here now.

"Howard, what the juice are you doing in my room?!" he demanded

"Y-Your mom let me in" the portly boy snickered before noticing that his friend was in distress "Are you ok, dude?"

"I need to get to Middleburg right now!" Randy nearly shouted in a panic

"Middleburg?" Howard repeated in confusion "That's like a five-and-a-half-hour drive from here. Why do you even need to go there in the first place?"

"I'll explain on the way there" his friend answered "I'm going to tell my mom I'm staying at your house for the weekend. While I'm doing that, I want you to call your cousin Sebastian and tell him to come pick us up and take us there. He still owes you that favor, right?"

"Yeah, but you might wanna— "Howard attempted to say

"There's no time!" Randy exclaimed "I'm gonna go tell my mom now—just get Sebastian over here now!"

"Alright, but you might wanna go wash of your face before you talk to your mom first" Howard suggested in a nonchalant tone

Randy stopped dead in his tracks before slowly turning around to have his now snickering friend with a cold grimace on his face. he then remembered the marker and quickly dashed to the bathroom, where he found Howard's handiwork scribbled across his cheek.

"Seriously dude?! You drew a giant dick on my face!" he shouted furiously as Howard let out a haughty belly laugh

* * *

" _Just in time for dinner_ " Sashi thought to herself as she stepped out of the elevator

After leaving the Zero's home, the former part-time sidekick had returned the apartment complex where her family was no doubt waiting for her to return so they could sit down at the dinner table and enjoy whatever George had cooked up for supper. Even though her parents had come to accept that she was more than capable of taking care of herself, they still had a tendency to worry about her safety. She didn't play them, she knew that they were only looking out for her as any parent would. No doubt when she got home she would receive a warm welcome from her mother and farther as they sat down together and ate dinner. her mother would tease Sashi about Penn while her farther would make some remark about how he would make that boy cry if he ever hurt her—a claim he would not be able to back up, but it still made Sashi happy in a way that her farther cared enough about to say such a thing.

However, the violent girl's thoughts where not fully on her family, but more on her boyfriend. Penn's lack of wanting his heroic lifestyle back was both surprising and frustrating to her. Though she could understand why he wanted to have a normal life after being robbed of one for so long, but for Sashi, it was a life that defined who she was. She loved her family dearly, but she felt as though she was being denied of her true potential. She never felt more alive than she did was she slaughtering her way through hordes of whatever cannon fodder Rippin threw at them. But those days were gone forever, and now she had to find a way to adjust to living without saving the multiverse from falling into chaos. What surprised her about Penn's response, however, was how felt it almost felt, it was as if he was trying to deny missing his heroic life to both her and himself. It wasn't in her boyfriend's nature to lie to anyone—let alone her of all people, so for whatever reason he had, he must be at war with himself over what he truly wanted in his life.

A hypnotical thought crossed the girl's mind: could she and Penn's romance last without being part-time heroes. True, they confessed their love for one another after everything was said and done and they had gotten along just fine since then, but Sashi always had this nagging fear in the back of her skull that their love might a fleeting one if they didn't have something to fight against together as a couple and instead turn on one another in due time. Sashi was the first to admit that she was no day at the beach to be with for long periods of time, and while Penn had the patience of a saint, even had his limits, and it made the former sidekick question if his patience for her would ever run out. What if it all it took for their love to go down in flames was one bad argument? Through all the dates, dinners together and passionate sex, was it all so fragile that it could break with so little effort?

" _But that wouldn't happen_ " she mused to herself " _Right?_ "

As Sashi was still wrestling with her thoughts as she walked down the hallway, she was completely unaware of the sounds from the other apartments, or better put, the lack thereof. Normally, one could hear the cacophony of muffled voices coming from each apartment, but only silence came from each of the rooms were supposedly full of families. By this point, the former sidekick would pick up on the lack of sounds from the other rooms and would be on guard, but her thoughts of what could happen between her and her boyfriend overwhelmed her sense of danger as she past the silent rooms toward her home. It wasn't until she finally reached her family's apartment that she finally picked up on the fact that that something was amiss. The door was slightly ajar, and if she knew anything about her farther, he wouldn't allow something like this to happen.

She cautiously stepped toward the door, her muscles tensing up for a fight with every step as she did. She knew that this wasn't the work of Rippin considering that he now resided within the Most Dangerous World Imaginable for the rest of his days alongside Larry and others who had joined him ruling over it, but that didn't mean that the world wasn't without its own dangers such as thieves and muggers. However, if these idiots were still raiding her home and holding her family hostage, then they were in a rude awaking that not everyone in the Kobayashi family wasn't going to just lie down accept being a captive. She gently, yet carefully pushed the door open and stepped into her home, ready to crush the bones of whoever dared to harm her family into dust.

Darkness was the first thing that greeted her as she stepped inside her family's apartment, but the fading light of the sun still shined through the closed curtains, giving her some light. Sashi tried to flip on the light switch, but as she suspected, the power had been cut and left her almost blinded by the blankness she was now submerged in. Luckily, she had enough training in the dark to prepare for an occasion such as this and was more than adept for this type of situation. The former sidekick had to move swiftly and silently so that she would not alarm the ones who had broken into home to her presence. She didn't see either her parents or George in the dark, making her assume, or rather, hope, that they were ok. As she moved through the darkened apartment, she felt a sudden wetness on the carpet. She looked down and touched the liquid and held it up to the ever-fading light within apartment to see what it was. She gasped in horror when she discovered that the liquid was in fact blood. No doubt the blood that had been spilt from one of her family members. This discovery made Sashi looked down and see that she was standing a large puddle of blood and several feet away from the puddle was a large mass laying only a foot away from her from where the puddle had originated from.

The mass was her farther, laying cold and dead in a pool of his own blood. The holes where his eyes once where stared blankly back at his now horrified daughter she covered her mouth to hold back a scream of both terror and dismay. She then noticed the outline of her mother strung out on the living room chair with her stomach sliced open and most of her organs strewn out all over lap. Her arms and legs and been severed and been tossed into a small pile beside he corpse. In the lounge chair Sashi saw George's body and almost casually wonders where his head his. She then looked over to her mother's china cabinet and saw George's head staring back at her from it. Blood stains where splattered all over the apartment like a macabre painting, surrounding Sashi in a sort of portrait of death and dismay.

"Oh god…" was all she could say at the massacre that was now all around her

In one moment, Sashi's entire world was completely destroyed. Her family, the people whom she cared for most in the entire multiverse had been slaughtered, and she wasn't there to save them. If she had decided to stay home instead going out and spending the entire day at Penn's house then perhaps she could've been able to stop this from ever happening. Her little brother and parents, who had come to finally accept who she was had been brutally murdered and the killers or killers had probably already long departed. Sashi fell to her knees hand began to weep as her farther's blood stained her clothing. A flurry of emotions spiraled around in her mind like a raging storm. All she could feel was sadness, guilt and above all else, anger. The former sidekick's rage only strengthened her other emotions as the rage toward herself and toward whoever did this spread throughout her body like wildfire. She swore that no matter how long it took or how many bodies she'd leave, she was going to find the ones who had destroyed her life and would make them pay for taking her family away from her.

While her anger and grief consumed her, Sashi failed to notice the figure that slowly crept up behind her until he was mere inches from her. In a moment of blind fury, the violent girl let out a rage-filled cry as she whirled and launched herself at whoever had come up behind her. Judging by the shape of the stranger's body, it was a possibly a man, but his attire made it hard to tell if that was true or not. From what Sashi could see in the fading sunlight, the man was dressed head to toe in a suit of armor that was covered in bloodstained blades. The armored assailant blocked her oncoming punch before kicking her in the stomach, knocking her back in the process. He then kept up his assault by charging forward and delivering a spin-kick that sent Sashi flying in the dinner table, knocking it over made she made contact with it.

The violent teen didn't ask for a motive, right now she didn't care if this man had one or not, all she cared about right now was seeing this man dead. With another scream of rage, Sashi jumped back to her feet and rushed toward the stranger again. She had no plan, no desire to call for help, no other thought in her head other than kill. Sashi unleashed series of ballistic kicks and punches, but all where either skillfully blocked or evaded by her adversary. Whoever she was fighting was well trained—possibly even better than herself, though judging by how quick he had block her attacks, it was evident that he was having to work overtime in order to keep with her. Her opponent suddenly sent a devastating punch that made her stumble backward before her uppercut that flung her upward into the air and finish with a mid-air kick that sent her flying backwards into the kitchen where she collided with the one of the cupboards and broke it on impact before falling to the ground.

The armored assailant lunged forward and attempted to stomp on the girl's skull, only for Sashi to roll out of the way at the last second and leap back up with a powerful heel-kick that caused him to lose his balance for a moment, which gave the former sidekick enough time to deliver several punches, but her strikes did little damage due to the man's armor, but it was enough to throw him off his balance just long enough for her kick him to the ground, but just before he hit the ground, he managed to catch himself with one hand and sent an upward kick to Sashi's chest that knocked her on her back, but she instantly recovered and jumped back into the kitchen where she grabbed a nearby knife before launching herself toward her enemy once again. With her weapon in her hand, she let a furious scream as she swiped slashed and stabbed in a blind rage at the stranger, who quickly blocked her attacks with several well-timed guards, before seeing his chance to knock the knife out of her hand and grabbed onto her arm and twist it behind her back.

Despite the pain she was in as she felt the tight pressure build up in her arm, Sashi slammed the elbow of her free arm into the side of her captor's ribs several times until he loosened his grip just enough for her to break free of his clutches. She then whirled around with a round-house kick, but her enemy caught her leg preceded to hurl through the wall and land in the bathroom. Sashi's vision was blurry, her head pounded with pain and she could taste her own blood in her mouth. The violent girl had faced off with many opponents in her life as a hero, but she had never encountered someone with such fighting prowess.

"You show great skill, child" the man in the bladed armor said as he entered the bathroom through the hole "But only I can unlock your true potential"

Sashi didn't respond to that. Instead, she let out an almost animalistic war cry as she leapt at her family's killer, but her kneed her in the gut before grabbing the back of her head and slamming it into the side of the sink before punching her in the stomach with a strong enough force to make her mouth erupt a huge spat of blood from it. He delivered several more devastating punches to her stomach before kicking her backwards and causing her to stumble backwards into the tub. Sashi forced herself to stand back up, only to be smacked back into it with a strong backhand from her adversary. He then picked her back up by her neck and tossed out of the bathroom through the hole she made and back into the living room. Sashi struggled to get back to her feet, but was kicked in side and knocked back to the floor.

"You fight like a true warrior with nothing held back" her enemy noted as he circled her like a vulture "But it is time to end this little game"

Sashi forced herself to stand back up and throw another punch her opponent with wild shout as sshe did, only to have her arm twisted to the point of snapping like a twig. The teen let out a scream of agony as she looked upon her now broken appendage. Before she could even react, her armored enemy kicked her directly in the kneecap, snapping it two in one painful strike that forced her to collapse onto the ground. The stranger stood over Sashi as she began to try to pull herself away from her opponent. For the first time in the teen's life, she was frightened. She was scared of sharing her family's fate, as well as feel truly guilty that she had failed them.

"P-Please…" she begged with tears in her eyes "D-don't kill me"

She could hardly believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. How could she go from being a feared sidekick to this sniveling coward that now begged for her life? it was disgraceful to both her and the family she had just lost that she had become this failure. Her opponent only looked down at her with disgust in his eyes, sharing the same disdain for her groveling as she did.

"Do not worry yourself with such begging" he told her in a cold, yet almost assuring tone "soon you shall become the ultimate warrior"

The pain that Sashi felt coursing throughout her back made her unable to speak any further. The next thing she knew, she was hoisted into the air by the throat by the bladed man. his gauntlet then shot out a pair of blades from it, still covered in the blood of her family that he had taken away from her.

"But first…" he continued darkly "you must die!"

With that, the blades were impaled through her chest. Sashi gasped out her final breath as she felt her life slip away from her body. The final thought that came to her mind wasn't a memory of her family, but of her first kiss with Penn.

" _Goodbye, Penn…_ " she thought as her body began to grow cold " _I love you…_ "

With one last, shallow breath, Sashi Kobayashi's body went limp as her now still body hung from her killer's blades. Underneath his helmet, her enemy almost felt like grinning that now hung from his blades. After so long of searching, he had finally found the one who would crush his clan's enemies and assure the Foot's rule over not just New York, but on a global scale. But first, he had to awaken the true warrior within this now lifeless husk before him. He could only hope that the good doctor wasn't selling him lies about his machine—for his sake, that is. But for this moment, he wanted to savor his victory and the other victories that would be sure to come in the near future. For now he, Oroku Saki, the Shredder, had given the Foot Clan's its ultimate weapon: The Black Sky.


	2. A Chance Meeting

Chapter Two: A Chance Meeting

The sun had barley rose over the horizon when Penn's room woke him up from a wonderful dream about the love of his life. he thought he was still in a dream when his parents told him the news that shook him to his very core. His mother and farther had to explain the news at least three or four times until it finally hit it him that this was no dreamscape, but a living nightmare. He was to stunned by the news to cry at first, but as his parents held for emotional support, his tears flowed freely. The former part-time hero wanted to believe that this was all some prank at his expense—Sashi would think faking her death was a good joke on her boyfriend. But this was no prank, and Penn was left in the wake of the death of the woman he loved.

Against his parents' wishes, Penn quickly dressed and rushed to the apartment complex, calling Boone, who had also been given the tragic news by his parents well to meet him at the building as well. Penn's mother and farther knew that it would be pointless to try to keep him from away from seeing what had happened to his lover. Before he stepped out the door, his mother hugged him tightly and told him to be strong. His farther wanted to give some advice of his own, but the former hero was already out the door, jumped on his scooter and sped off as hard as he could toward the apartment complex. As was instructed, Boone was there waiting for him, however, a massive crowd of on-lookers and several newscasters had surrounded the building that was bared off by the police. Luckily, his training as a hero gave him the proper skills he needed for him and the former Wiseman to sneak past both the cops and the crowds and into the apartment complex.

Even as he and Boone had snuck into an elevator before heading up toward the level where Sashi's home was, Penn was still grappling this new reality he was now within. Boone tried to give his condolences and his advice to his friend, but the redhead's thoughts drowned out any and all words his heavyset friend had said to try to comfort him. If he had known that yesterday was the last time he was ever going to see his friend and lover alive, he would've made their last kiss as deep and passionate as he could and told her to her face how much her truly loved her. He should've told her that his denial of wanting to be a hero again and told her that wanted nothing more than to return to the multiverse with her by his side.

Only the ding of the elevator snapped Penn out his regrets for a moment as the doors before, allowing the two teens to step out of it and rush down the hall, where they discovered a horrific sight. Several officers, EMT's and forensics were wheeling out covered bodies from each and every one of the rooms on the entire apartment floor. Neither Penn nor Boone where not aware that the massacre wasn't just done to Sashi and her family, but to the entire floor as well. It made no sense, why would anyone just break into an apartment building and just start killing people?

"Hey, what the hell are you kids doing here?!" a gruff voice demanded from behind them

The former heroes spun around to see a rather irate looking police officer staring down at them.

"This area's restricted!" he informed sharply "Now beat it!

"Sir please, my girlfriend was in one of these rooms, I need to know if she's ok!" Penn pleaded "Her name is Sashi Kobayashi"

The officer's façade changed from one of anger to one of surprise upon hearing that name. He then wordlessly moved past the two teens' and made his way over to where the other officers where helping to move the bodies out where he then proceed to speak with one of the detective's. After several minutes of speaking with the cop, the detective made his way over to where Penn and Boone.

"I'm Detective Harrison" the man introduced "I understand you were connected to Ms. Kobayashi?"

"Yes, she's my girlfriend" Penn replied "where is she? I want to…"

Penn choked up for a moment before forcing to compose himself and spoke up once more.

"I want to see her body" he finished

"Well to be honest kid, we don't know where she is" the detective admitted "So far we've recovered the bodies of her family, we found no trace of her. Nor did we find her in the other rooms"

"What happened here?" the former hero asked

"Someone broke into the building last night and killed everyone on this floor and the other two below us" Harrison explained "they were cut to pieces"

"So, was it like a gang hit or something?" Boone asked

"Could be, but we're not sure" Harrison answered before looking back at Penn "When was the last time you saw Ms. Kobayashi?"

"She was at my house for most of the day until sundown" the redhead explained "She was on her way home"

"Sundown you say?" Harrison mused aloud "That was just around the time the murders took place"

Penn's muscles tensed when he heard that. A surge of anger shout through him as he clenched his fists, knowing full well what the detective was incinerating. Boone saw his friend's silent rage and quickly put his arm on his shoulder in order to try and calm him down. With a long, soothing inhale and exhale, Penn stayed his inward fury before speaking up again.

"Sashi wouldn't do this if that's what you're thinking" He informed the detective

"From what we've gathered kid— "Harrison tried to say

"My name is Penn, not kid, sir" Penned corrected him sharply

"—she's a very aggressive person" Harrison continued, annoyed by the interruption "Apparently she has quite the reputation at your school for being something of a violent individual"

As much as Penn hated to admit it, Harrison had a point. While Sashi had tried her best to better control her anger, she was still prone to violent outbursts every now and again. Penn had tried to keep in check, but her fury was hard to leash. It didn't take much for her anger to spiral out of control, but Penn sincerely doubted that his lover would turn her anger out on her family—let alone three floors full of innocent people.

"You're not seriously not thinking that Sashi would do this?" Penn questioned

"Well the way I see it, it's either your girlfriend, or the alternative" the detective reasoned

"And that being?" the former hero inquired

"A bum we found sitting behind the building claimed he saw ninjas crawling into building through the windows" Harrison answered, "So as far as I'm concerned _kid_ , until we find your girlfriend dead or alive, she's our prime suspect"

Again, a white-hot flash of rage coursed throughout the former hero's veins. With little to no evidence, the police decided that Sashi was wanted for a murder she could ever have committed on the simple grounds that she wasn't there. True, the story of the ninjas entering the apartment building was a bit farfetched, but considering that he once was able to traverse the very multiverse itself, nothing sounded impossible to him or his friends. Before Penn could protest the detective's claim any further, Harrison was suddenly called back over to where the other officers were. When the detective returned the group, Penn noticed someone new among them and instantly recognized who it was.

It was the man he had spotted walking down the street yesterday just as Sashi left his home. Even though Penn couldn't hear what they were saying, he stilled watched as the other officers introduced the man to Harrison. The stranger then proceeded to speak to Harrison, who nearly exclaimed several explicit words in anger over whatever the newcomer had to say. In response to the outburst, the stranger then leaned toward the detective and whispered something in the other man's ear. Penn didn't know what was said to Harrison, but judging by how his face had suddenly turned pale, it was nothing good. Once he was done whispering his unknown threat, the man in the cowboy hat pulled away with a grin on his face, patting Harrison on the shoulder as he did. the detective then made his way back to where Penn and Boone where, still looking slightly stunned from whatever was spoken to him. Penn also noted that the teams moving the bodies and the other officers were starting to pack up their equipment and leaving the area as well.

"You two need to leave" he ordered "were labeling this as a gang hit and closing the case"

"Wait, what about Sashi?" Penn asked "What if— "

"She's dead!" he snapped back "Now get out of here, or so help god I'll have you both arrested for interfering with a crime scene!"

Penn wanted to stay and have it out with the detective, but Boone gestured for him to follow him out of the building, clearly not wanting to see the redhead in jail. With an irritated growl, Penn followed Boone back toward the elevator. As he did, he took one more glance back at the group of departing officers and saw the bearded stranger looking directly back at him with a smirk. He then tipped his hat to the boy before miraculously disappearing among the crowd of officers. The former hero wanted to turn right around and confront whoever that man was, but if there was even the smallest chance that Sashi was still alive, then he'd be useless to her if he was locked up. Penn had no idea who that man was or what kind of hold he had over the police department, but he was certain whatever happened to Sashi, that man was a part of this mystery he had now been thrown into.

"This is crazy" Boone noted as he and Penned entered the elevator "I mean one second the cops wanna label Sashi as the murderer, then they just drop it like that? And what was if that dude in the cowboy hat?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that he's connected to what happened here" Penn surmised "he might even know where Sashi is"

"What do you mean?" the former Wiseman asked

"Because I saw him just as Sashi left my house yesterday" the ginger answered, "I didn't think much of it at first, but after seeing him here today I think something big happened here"

"Yeah, but what?" the heavyset teen questioned

"That detective said something about ninjas breaking in here last night" Penn replied, "I know it sounds crazy, but what if that's what really happened last night"

"Dude, we've fought space gerbils, vampires, and killer burrito's, ninjas don't even rank in the top ten freaky things we've seen" Boone pointed out before asking "Although if it was ninjas, why did they kill Sashi?"

"We don't know if she's dead, Boone!" Penn suddenly barked in anger "you heard the cops, they didn't find her body, so she could still be alive"

"But even if she is, shouldn't she have contacted us by now?" Boone mentioned

Penn didn't answer that. He didn't want to say his fears out loud or else he might actually start believing in them. Boone did have a point sadly, if Sashi did survive her encounter with whoever had attacked her family, then she should've called at least called Penn to tell him what had happened, but that was on the basis that she somehow managed to get away from her attackers, there was a good chance that she may have been taken. It all didn't make sense, why attack Sashi in the first place? And more importantly, if it was a band of ninjas, then whay did they want with the Kobayashi's in the first place?

"Look let's just focus on finding out what happened first" he finally said

"But where do we even start?" Boone asked, "it's not like we can break into Sashi's home after everyone's gone and look for evidence"

Penn gave his friend a look that confirmed what he had just said

"Oh my god we're doing that" Boone yelped in realization

* * *

"So…you gonna finish that" Howard asked curiously, eyeing Randy's burger as he did

Randy grimaced at his friend. After everything he had told him on the long drive here, the heavyset ginger was more concerned about his burger that he hadn't even touched yet than he did about the possibility of an evil clan of ninjas about to claim the ultimate weapon that could them total dominance over the world. During the long ride to Middleburg, Randy had explained in great detail to Howard about the Foot Clan and the Ninja's connection to them, as well about the Black Sky, but all Howard was concerned about more than anything was getting something to eat after the long car ride, hence he why asked his cousin Sebastian to drop them off at a local diner. Howard to told him to come pick them on Sunday, and as always, his elder cousin didn't ask any question and simply complied with what was asked of him before driving back to Norrisville, leaving the two teens alone in a town they had no idea how to navigate. So naturally, the first course of action was getting some food before doing anything else—if only to keep Howard quiet for the next half-hour.

"For the third time Howard, yes!" Randy nearly exclaimed in annoyance "God, have you even been paying attention to anything I've said?"

"Eh, I've been drifting in and out of it" Howard confessed, making Randy groan in frustration in the process

"Look, the Nomicon said that the Black Sky is here and that the Foot Clan are looking for it" the secret hero said, "We need to find it before they do"

"Ok, so did the book tell you what this Black Sky thingy looks like?" Howard casually inquired

"It uh…it left that detail out" Randy admitted sheepishly

"Great, so we're nearly a hundred miles away from our homes, we hardly have any money and the reason why you dragged me all the way out to honk'in Middleburg is something that you don't even know what it looks like!" the portly ginger scolded

Randy groaned once more, only this time not at Howard, but at himself. Howard was unfortunately right, he had no idea what he was looking for and now both he had Howard where stuck in whole other town with no idea to even begin their search for the weapon. He could always jump back into the Nomicon and ask for more details, but knowing the book, it would more than likely give him some vague clue on the whereabouts as to where the Black Sky was, even Nosu didn't seem to have an idea as to what it looked like.

"In other news, tragedy struck Golden Gates apartment building earlier today" a news reporter began on the TV that hung from one of the diner's wall "the bodies of over seventy different residents living in the apartment were found dead in what could be described as a horrific massacre"

Even over the noise within the diner, Randy could make out what was being said on the TV and his interest was piqued by this sudden news story. He left the booth he and Howard were sitting in and moved closer to where the TV was in order to better hear what it had to say.

"According to police, three floors of the apartment were victims of a brutal gang initiation" the reporter continued "the victims were sliced into pieces by multiple bladed weapons before the assailants sometime the police the time eight-thirty and nine-thirty. Nothing was stolen from any of the victim's homes, nor have any arrests have been made as of yet"

Despite what the news had said, Randy had his doubts. It seemed pretty senseless that a gang of any kind would just mindlessly slaughter three floors of innocent people, not take anything and exit without anyone seeing them either enter or exit the building. The Ninja had a feeling that whatever had transpired at that apartment building, the Foot Clan had a hand in it. However, it still begged the question: if it was them, then why kill so many people in the first place? The reason he could fathom was that they were looking for something, and that something was no doubt the Black Sky, or at least a clue as to where it was. Whatever the case, he had to look into this as soon as he could, and he knew just where to start.

"Howard, I think I found— "he attempted to say as he walked back to their booth

He stopped midsentence to see that his heavyset set friend was currently halfway done with eating the young hero's burger and fries.

"What? You were gone" Howard defended, making Randy once again groan in frustration

"Look, I think I found a lead to where to start looking for the Black Sky" Randy continued

"You mean that gang hit they were just talking about?" Howard surmised

"I've got this gut feeling that it wasn't a gang hit at all" the fellow freshman pointed out "I think it was the Foot Clan"

"Ok, so how are you gonna prove it?" Howard asked before taking another bite of his friend's burger

"I'm gonna need a closer look at those apartments" Randy answered

Howard's eyes widened in shock, knowing exactly what he meant by that.

"Wait a sec, please tell me you're not seriously suggesting what I think you are" the portly teen questioned

"It's the only way to be sure" the secret hero reasoned

"Oh awesome, I've always wanted to see what the inside of the Middleburg prison looked like" Howard grumbled sarcastically

* * *

"I'm just gonna go on record and say that this is a horrible idea" Boone mentioned as he and Penn cautiously made their way up the apartment's emergency staircase

It was later in the night when Penn and the former part-time Wiseman returned to the apartment building. After they had departed, the police had quarantined the three floors, making it impossible for the teens to travel back up to them through the elevator. Fortunately, Sashi had shown Penn where the emergency staircase was—as well as how to pick the lock to it. the two former part-time heroes had waited until their respective parents had fallen asleep before sneaking out of their homes in the dead of night and heading back to the apartment building. Once there, Penn picked the lock to the emergency exit door like his girlfriend had shown him and soon enough, they were making their way up the stairs to where Sashi's home was.

"Come on Boone, we have to figure out what really happened to Sashi and her family" Penn retorted "and the only way to do that is look around in her home ourselves"

While Penn was deadest on getting to the bottom of whatever happened to the woman he loved, he still had his doubts. The forensics team had probably already taken any evidence of whatever happened last night and left little for him and Boone to find. But he banished any such thoughts from his mind, he couldn't give into his fears now, not while there was still the possibility that Sashi might still be alive. It all still didn't make any sense to him, why attack Sashi and family? And why go out the way to kill three floors full of people along with them? and the biggest question: why do all this in the first place? All these thoughts swirled around in his head like a swarm of wasps that buzzed about furiously in his skull.

As for Boone, he was still totality unsure about all this. Granted, he too wanted to find out what exactly had happened to his missing friend, but he was beginning to fear that Penn was taking things too far. Wanting answers was one thing, but breaking into a crime scene was something entirely different. Penn had a tendency to bullhorn into a bad situation when someone he cared for was in danger. This wasn't the first time he had done something like this before, such was the case on the mission where they had to search for the Last Mountain Beast and Penn was more concerned with finding the shard that would help to lead him to his parents. Boone wanted to try and stop his friend from this, but he knew that once Penn had something in mind, he was driven to see it through until the end.

After climbing up sixteen flights of stairs, the two teens had finally managed to reach the floor they needed to get to and stepped inside, where the discovered police tape placed around each end of the hallway, keeping anyone from disturbing them as they headed for Sashi's home. Penn was still unsure if they were going to find anything that would help them in their search for his missing lover, but he as long as he held hope in his heart that she was still alive, then he would go to the ends of the earth to find her, and heaven help anyone who got in his way.

Just before they entered the Kobayashi's apartment, the two former heroes heard the sounds of something, or someone, shuffling about in the room, moving items as they did. They could also hear at least two muffled voices through the door as well, one of which clearly wasn't aware that they were trying to sneak around and kept talking a regular volume. Penn and Boone instantly went on alert as the crouched down before opening the door by just a crack so they could better listen to the conversation.

"This is so freak'in illegal" one of the voices said, a young man by the sound of him "Do you even know what we're supposed to be looking for?"

"I don't know, just look for something out of the ordinary" the second intruder told his cohort, trying to keep his voice low as he did "and keep your voice down!"

"Out of the ordinary? Dude, we're in a room full of bloodstains! Everything is out of the ordinary!" the first boy exclaimed before being quick shushed by the second

"Dude, you're gonna get us arrested if you keep shouting!" the other young man informed him, still trying to keep his voiced down as he did

"Urgh, this is so honk'in boring!" the first voiced whined "don't you have like a special Ninja power that'll help find this superweapon you've been going on about?"

"Oh, sure Howard, let me just active my suit's detective mode and we'll find the Black Sky in no time!" the first voice replied, sarcasm laced in every word as he did

"Do you have a— "

"No, I don't have detective mode!"

Out of everything Penn heard during the discussion between the two intruders, two words caught his attention: ninja and superweapon. It was apparently true that a group of ninjas did in fact launch an attack on the building, and their reasoning had become clear as well. these secret warriors must have been in search of this 'Black Sky' and thought that perhaps one of the apartment's residents had it or at least knew where it was. Penn could also only guess that whoever these guys we're they must have been sent here to clear away any trace of their presence that may have been left behind and look for any indication of the weapon they sought after's whereabouts. However still didn't explain Sashi's disappearance, nor did it give any answers as to who the man in the cowboy hat was and his connection to all this, but he had every intention of finding out.

"We should call the cops" Boone suggested via a whisper over to his friend

"And tell them what?" Penn hissed back "That we found ninjas in a crime scene that we broke into?"

"ok, point taken" the former Wiseman agreed "So, what do we do?"

"This" was all Penn said as he stood up

Suddenly, Penn kicked open the door two find the intruders looking back at him with their eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the redhead that now stood before them. what was odd about the two strangers was that while one had the attire of your typical ninja costume, but second person was a teenager no older than him or Howard. Penn didn't know why the heavyset teen was working with the ninja who have had a hand in the disappearance and possible death of his girlfriend, and right now, he didn't really care, all the former hero was concerned with at the moment was beating these two into the ground until they started talking.

"Oh boy" the Ninja yelp, knowing that they had been discovered

"I'm only going to ask this once" Penn warned "Where is Sashi?"

"Who the juice is that?" the Ninja asked, obviously confused

"We don't have any sushi" the portly boy replied, "But if you find any, let us know"

The former part-time hero didn't have time for any of this, he only cared about where Sashi was and these two where in his way. Throwing caution to the wind, he charged at the two young men. Acting quickly, the Ninja pushed his companion out of the way he began to do some strange hand motions.

"Ninja Air Fist!" he proclaimed

Penn was taken aback by the sudden oncoming ball of air that came from his enemy's hand, but he did have enough sense to duck before tackling the masked teen to the ground. He then began to throw blow after blow at his opponents face and chest with everything he had before the Ninja managed to kick the ginger off his person. Penn quickly recovered from the kick just in time to see his adversary rush toward him. Penn took another swing at the Ninja, but the black-clad warrior easily ducked and delivered a powerful uppercut that knocked the redhead to the floor.

"Hang on Penn, back-ups on the way!" Boone exclaimed as he charged into the fray

"Oh no you don't!" the chunky teen countered as he tackled the former Wiseman to the ground

As the two portly teens kick, punched and bit one another as they rolled about on the ground, Penn took this chance to trip his opponent, who was distracted by the sight of the other fight that had just broken out between the two portly teens. However, the Ninja easily recoiled and bounced right back up and put the former part-time in a headlock just as he had managed to pick himself back up from the ground. Pen elbowed his attacker in the gut before taking his arm and flipping him over onto the dinner table, shattering it upon impact as he did. he silently thanked his missing lover for teaching him that move before attacking once more.

Just as Penn lunged at the Ninja again, the masked assailant got back to his feet and quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a small green orb. He then chucked it at Penn, which exploded into a mass of electrical energy that racked Penn's body with pain. The agony was so great that it forced the boy to collapse to the ground. As he withered about on the floor, his adversary drew a sword from seemingly out of nothingness before making his way to the former hero. As he watched his opponent walk toward him, Penn cursed him for being so stupid, he should've known better than to just barge into a situation such as this without a plan. He glanced over back to Boone to see he was still locked in combat with the chubby teen as well. Because of his arrogance, he had gotten then both killed and now Sashi was as good as dead if she wasn't already.

But instead of impaling his blade through Penn's chest, the Ninja stabbed his sword into the floor only inches away from the fallen boy's face. Penn, confused by this, looked back up at his attacker, who only looked back down at him with a fierce scowl in his eyes. The sudden act of mercy also made the brawl between Boone and the other boy come to an abrupt halt.

"Listen to me very carefully" the Ninja began "I don't know what your problem is, but I didn't have anything to do with this mess. So, I'm gonna ask you politely: you wanna talk it out, or do I have to slap you around some more?"

While Penn knew he was clearly outclassed in terms of skill, he still didn't trust the words the masked man had spoken, However, he had no choice with both his life and Boone's on the line. So, begrudgingly, he nodded as a sign that he accepted the terms. The Ninja then reached down and offered his hand to the teen, who took his hand and was helped back to his feet. The Ninja then looked over to his companion and gestured for him to get off Boone and allow him to also stand back up.

"Now then, let's start off with why you're here?" the masked fighter asked

"This is my girlfriend's apartment. She went missing when the building was attacked. So, my friend and I came here looking for any clues as to what happened to her" Penn explained before narrowing his eyes in suspicion "what's your excuse?"

"Would you believe hunting ninjas?" the Ninja answered

"Yes, yes we would" the former hero told him

"Well, my friend and I came here from all the way from Norrisville looking a group of ninjas who may have done this" the other teen informed Penn

"Wait, Norrisville?" Boone piped in before his eyes widened in realization "you're the Norrisville Ninja!"

Now Penn felt really stupid. He should've realized from the costume that this was the protector of the town of Norrisville, but his rage had blinded him from seeing that this was foe, but a potential friend.

"You are?" Penn added on before blushing in embarrassment "sorry dude, I guess I kinda lost my cool back there"

"That's one way of putting it" the fellow hero said sharply

"Well, as you can guess, we heard about the ninja rumor ourselves and when I saw you I thought you had something to do with this"

"Well he's not" the heavyset ginger confirmed

"Who are you anyway?" Boone inquired "are you like the Ninja's butler or something?"

"I'm his friend!" the boy snapped, despite hearing a snicker from the Ninja

"So, who exactly are these ninjas your looking for anyway?" Penn questioned "and what this Black Sky you were talking about earlier?"

"That's something like to know as well" a female voice suddenly added on

The group turned around in unison, collectively thinking that they had been found out by the cops. But to their surprise it was someone whom they never expected to see in their lives. It was young girl about the group of boys age with long red hair and wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with mid-riff cut to it and tan jeans with black shoes. Boone's mouth was agape while Peen could only stare in wonder at the woman before him. as for the Ninja and Howard, they nearly had a panic attacking at meeting one of the greatest heroes in the business.

"What are you guys staring at?" Kim Possible asked "you all act like you've never seen a teen superhero before"


	3. Reborn in Darkness

Chapter Three: Reborn in Darkness

On a nonstop flight, it would take a total of eight hours to reach Manhattan from Middleburg via plane. But as Dr. Drakken paced impatiently back and forth in the private lab he had been given, the hours might as well have been days for him. the blue-skinned scientist was by no means a patient man, and the fact that he had to wait to move forward with his project only irritated him further. He still had his doubts about this alliance he had made with the Foot Clan, but then again, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. As he continued his pacing, his partner and bodyguard, Shego, was keeping herself occupied by filing her nails. However, her boss's continuous pacing was starting to grate on nerves.

"Uh, could you not, Dr. D?" she asked in an annoyed voice

"What's taking the Shredder so long?" Drakken demanded, ignoring request as he kept pacing "He should've been here by now!"

"It's not exactly easy to sneak a superweapon past customs" his sidekick pointed out "You just better hope that thing we stole works, or he's gonna be pist"

"Of course it works!" the mad scientist snapped back "I haven't spent the last three days in this lab filing my nails like you have!"

"Gotta keep these nails on fleek, Doc" was all his bodyguard said, unfazed by the insult, thus making her boss let out a series of frustrated sounds

As he paced, Drakken thought back to how he and Shego had gotten into this whole mess in the first place. It began with a failed theft of a device that Drakken sought for his latest scheme for world domination. The device in question was a dome-shaped headset which was given the name the Morpheus Machine, a simple device that induced a dream like state to its wearers and let them live out their dreams or even their memories of the past. However, the blue-skinned villain had intended to use the machine for a much darker purpose. With a little tampering, Drakken could theoretically alter or even remove one's memories so that they could be under his control. He had initially intended on mass producing the Morpheus Machine and get on the heads on every single head of the UN who would then transfer all power to him and make him the ruler of the world. Granted, he was still working out the details as to how exactly he was going to get the machine upon the heads of every world leader, but first he needed to steal the device and figure out how it worked.

But as expected, his dreams of world conquest were all for not as his arch-nemesis, Kim Possible and her sidekick/boyfriend, Ron Stoppable, arrived on the scene just as the villainous were about to steal the device from its inventor's laboratory and robbed him of his destiny. The partners in crime managed to escape capture and sneak back to their lair where in typical Drakken fashion, threw a temper tantrum over the fact that he was yet again thwarted by the teen superhero. However, as would-be world conqueror stewed in his anger, he and his partner received an unexpected visit from someone also shared his dream of world domination, though it was on a smaller scale.

The Shredder, who along with several of his mutated minions, had easily bypassed Drakken's security systems and dispatched several of his henchmen in order to reach him, approached the blue-skinned villain with a proposition. If he agreed to ally himself with the Foot Clan, then bladed villain would help him in taking the Morpheus Machine, for he also had in uses in mind for the device as well. Before Drakken could accept the terms, Shego pulled him aside and attempted to talk him out of this alliance with the ninja clan, but the thought of obtaining the device he had desired drowned out any and all words of wisdom his right-hand woman had to offer. It was a mistake that Drakken would come to quickly regret soon enough.

Upon agreeing to join forces with the Foot Clan, the Shredder and his warriors took the villainous duo back to Manhattan with them. Once there, Drakken was given a laboratory, however, it wasn't a private one. He was forced to work alongside Shredder's insectoid scientist, Baxter Stockman, who upon seeing the bug-man for the first nearly caused the mad scientist to vomit. By the leader of the Foot's command, Drakken was ordered to conduct his research with Stockman's assistance on the Morpheus Machine one they acquired. The would-be world ruler attempted to protest, but a sharp punch to the stomach quickly silenced him. as for Shego, she was ordered to retrieve the device, only this time she would have a small squad of Foot soldiers under her command.

After their first attempted theft ended in failure, the inventor had taken precaution of hiring a private security force to safeguard his machine should anyone else try to steal it away from him again. But these armed guards stood little chance against Shego and her team of ninjas, whom quickly did away with the guards while Drakken's right-hand woman made off with the Morpheus Machine. Once the villainess returned the Foot's HQ with the machine, Drakken and Stockman immediately went to work on how to alter it for the villainous alliance's own plans. Drakken wanted to mass-produce the machine as he wanted to do in his original scheme, but the Shredder informed him that they only needed the machine for one person, though he did not disclose the name to his associate. All the head of the Foot Clan said was that soon they would have the ultimate weapon that would crush their enemies.

But now as Drakken anxiously waited for his 'partner's' return with this so-called weapon, he was beginning to wonder what his fate would be once they had achieved their goals. The blue-skinned scientist knew a thing or two about alliances such as these, and coming from his own experiences, he knew that they didn't last long. He considered escaping, but Shredder's warriors watched his every move from the shadows, thus keeping him and Shego from making a run for it. He also still wracked his brain over who the bladed villain wanted to use the machine on, a senator? The president? A queen? the possibilities were endless, what he did know however, was that the Shredder was unlike any other person he had encountered before, and he terrified the blue-skinned man to no end.

Just then, the door to Stockman's lab opened to reveal Shredder mutated second in command, Tiger Claw. The mutant mercenary was a force to be truly feared. Not only was his body augmented by the alien mutagen that he had been exposed to as a child, but he was excellent fight and weapons expert. Whenever Shredder wanted something done by Drakken, he would send the humanoid cat to enforce his will upon the scientist. Shego once tried to jump in a protect her boss, but Tiger Claw quickly gained the upper hand on the former superhero when the other mutants in Shredder's army joined the fight. Together they beat Shego into submission and thus forced her to back down whenever the Foot demanded anything from her partner. Tiger Claw gave the two villains a snarl as he glared directly at Drakken.

"Master Shredder has returned" he said, "You are needed in the throne room"

"Did he get the Black Sky?" Drakken inquired

"He would not have returned if he hadn't" the mutated mercenary affirmed, sounded irritated "Now follow, and bring the machine with you"

The partners followed Tiger Claw out of the lab and toward the throne room, all the while wondering what exactly this Black Sky was. Shredder had given his allies little details of it, only saying that it would give them total victory over their enemies. Drakken often mulled over what he meant by that, was it a laser? A bomb? A bio-weapon? He didn't know. What the mad scientist also wanted to know was if this supposed superweapon was so powerful, then why did the Shredder need the Morpheus Machine in the first place? Soon enough, Tiger Claw lead Drakken and Shego to Shredder's throne, where they found not only Shredder sitting at his throne, but surrounded by his other mutated minions as well.

"So, I understand you have the Black Sky?" Drakken inquired

"I have" Shredder simply confirmed

He then gestured to two of his Foot Soldiers to bring the weapon into the room. They bowed in response before leaving to retrieve the weapon. Moments later they returned with a stretcher that had an object covered by a white sheet. The two soldiers pushed the stretcher into the center of the room before leaving. As everyone gathered around the covered object, Shredder came down from his throne approached the stretcher. Then took hold of the cover and yanked it off to reveal to his cohorts the weapon that would bring them the victory their collectively craved over their enemies. But to their surprise, it wasn't a weapon lying before them, but the corpse of a teenage girl. Drakken and Shego's eyes widen in shock while Shredder's minions looked at one another in confusion at their master's supposed ultimate weapon.

"This is your Black Sky?" Drakken demanded "A dead girl! What is even your problem, man?!"

"It would do you well not to question me, Drakken" Shredder warned darkly "What lies before you is the perfect warrior. The Black Sky will annihilate our foes and assure the Foot's rule for generations to come"

"Yeah, it's gonna be kinda hard to do that when the kid's dead" Shego pointed out

Despite her dry sarcastic comments, the henchwoman was just as shocked and horrified by this revelation as her boss was. True they had wanted their teen nemesis, but to see this unknown girl lying cold and still before after the Shredder had obviously slain her made this them feel a sort of guilt for being apart this. They still remained unconvinced that the corpse before them was the fabled weapon the head of the Foot Clan had told them about, but wasn't exactly like they could question him.

"What of the Morpheus Machine?" Shredder questioned "Is it ready?"

"It took us a while, but Stockman and I redesigned to your specifications" the blue-skinned villain repiled as he continued to look at the body "though I don't think it'll do much good"

"Just concern yourself with the device, Drakken" Shredder reminded him "I will concern myself with bringing life back into the Black Sky"

"But how izzzz that even possible, master?" Stockman asked, "we can't bring back the dead!"

"Bug-brains got a point" Rawzahr agreed "If she—was—the Black Sky, then she's pretty useless to us being a stiff"

"I had to kill her, for she was useless in her original state" their master explained "The Morpheus Machine will erase her memories of her past life and remake her into the Foot's perfect weapon"

"That still don't answer the question, boss-man" Bebop commented "How are we gonna use that thingy on her if she's dead as disco?"

"Long ago, the Foot Clan's elders once knew of secret and forbidden techniques of raising the dead" the Shredder answered, "Those techniques were lost to history, but long last I have attained the scroll that held those very secrets"

Both Drakken and Shego had seen and done some fantastical things in their time as evildoers, but even for them raising the dead seemed pretty farfetched. Not only that, even it was possible, it seemed wrong to rob someone of their eternal rest in such a manner. Drakken and his right-hand woman may be villains, but even they had lines they did not cross, and tampering with the dead was one of them. Seeing the great lengths the Foot Clan would go to in order to defeat their enemies gave the duo another reason to try to find a way out of this mess.

"Don't forget who gave you that scroll" a cold female voice said from above them

The group of villains collectively looked up to the throne room's ceiling and saw a tall, slender almost reptilian figure looking down at them with shining red eyes. The creature suddenly spread a pair of giant wings bat-like wings from its back that allowed it to glide down to the ground where it stood before the group. The creature indeed reptilian, but it had the features that resembled a human woman. The winged beast wore a two-piece white dress that covered its body. It hair long red hair and a gold tiara placed upon her head. its fangs and claws were long and sharp like daggers. Its skin was a blueish grey color with pointed eyes that had circular earrings in them. Shego and Shredder's minions readied themselves for a fight with the beast while Drakken took a few steps back in order to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. However, instead giving the order to attack, the Shredder merely gave them all the signal to stand down.

"Demona…" he greeted in stoic tone

"Dewho now?" Shego asked

"My other ally I had made in my quest for the Black Sky" the head of the Foot answered, "It is because her that we have the means of bringing our champion back from the realm of the dead"

"And how exactly did she acquire the scroll?" Xever inquired

"I have my ways" Demona replied

"So, she's another mutant?" Rawzahr pondered

"Yeah, and I hot one to!" Bebop added on

"I am nothing like you abominations" she harshly corrected them "I am a gargoyle"

"I'm sorry you're a what?" Drakken said, clearly dumbfounded "I think I need to lie down for a sec"

"Let's see, ninjas, mutants, scrolls that raise the dead and now gargoyles" Shego listed off as she glowered at her boss "gee doc, you really know how to pick your friends"

"Zip it, Shego!" her employer commanded

"Enough!" the Shredder suddenly commanded "We are wasting time. Demona, I trust everything is ready?"

"I've prepared as that is needed as the scroll instructed" the gargoyle assured "everything will go as it planned"

"It had better, witch" the leader of the Foot warned "Or I shall personally test the limits of the immortality you claim to have!"

Demona shot her partner a glare, her eyes flashing red as she did. Before the Shredder had recruited Drakken, he first forged an alliance with the gargoyle in secret. As Oroku had said, the ancient art of resurrection had been lost to the Foot Clan for centuries. As such, Shredder was skeptical when Demona approached him with the scroll after breaking into his private bedchamber, claiming that she had obtained it during her short time in Japan during the Edo Era after killing a merchant who had claimed to have stolen it from the clan. While he wanted to put the gargoyle's head on a pike for her intrusion into his private sanctum, once he read the scroll however, he knew that it was indeed the genuine article and accepted the partnership. Like Shredder, Demona had also heard the tales of the legendary fighting prowess of the Black Sky and wanted to use it against her own enemies. However, the immortal monster had initially intended on bringing something else back from the dead.

Demona had originally wanted to use the scroll to resurrect her clan of fallen gargoyles who had been slain centuries ago. But much to her dismay, she discovered that she could not use the technique herself, for a spell had been bound to the scroll that had been cast by the clan's mystics in order to keep any who were not members of the Foot Clan unable to use the technique for themselves by making the text unreadable to them. Therefore, the gargoyle held onto the ancient parchment for centuries in the event she ever came across the ninja clan in her immortal lifetime. Eventually, she heard about the whispers and rumors that the Foot Clan was making a massive resurgence under the command of a new leader. While Demona despised the idea of working alongside a human, the thought of having her clan returned to her made the gargoyle swallow her pride and alley with the head of the Foot.

Sadly, for the immortal monster, Shredder explained that there needed to be a physical body in order to complete the ritual so that the soul could return to its proper vessel from the realm of the dead, something that Demona did not have. However, while her clan was still lost to her, the Shredder, on the other hand, saw this is as the perfect opportunity to use the ancient art on something he had planning in secret. Ever since he had lost Karai to Hamato Yoshi and his accused turtles, he had been secretly searching for her replacement by seeking out the legendary Black Sky, a child born every once in a generation to be the perfect warrior. He had been sending his agents throughout the globe to monitor children who could be the Black Sky, but it wasn't until he heard stories of the girl with the fighting spirit in Middleburg from one of his agents that he knew he had finally found his clan's champion.

But Oroko could see from the pictures and footage that his agent had sent back to him that the girl had already tainted by her family's influence and the loved she showed to some boy. Despite this, the Shredder wasn't going to allow the ultimate weapon to slip away from his grasp so easily. First, he needed to alter the girl's mind so that she would only serve his will, fortunately, he had heard of Drakken's attempted theft of a device that could give he wanted. There was also the matter of her mind fighting back against her mind being reprogramed, which why he had to slaw her in combat. Now that he had the scroll in his possession, he could breathe new life into the girl and turn her into the warrior she always destined to be. Admittedly, Demona was against using the scroll to bring life back into a human, the Shredder explained that if she could not have the redemption she longed to have, then she may as well have the revenge she had also sought, and to that she agreed.

"Let us begin the ritual" Oroko Saki said to the group

The Shredder ordered Xever to push the stretcher as the group of villains followed the head of the foot out of the throne room and downward to the lower levels of the building. Once they reached the basement level of the Foot Clan's headquarters, the Shredder's minions and cohorts looked upon the work that Demona had done in preparation for the revival of the Black Sky. At the center of the room was a large stone coffin with the word 'rebirth' written in Japanese on the lid of the coffin. The coffin was also filled to the brim with blood, though the blood of who Drakken and Shego didn't want to know. Surrounding the blood-filled coffin was a circle of lit incense, filling the room with the scent of cherry blossoms, which was a scent to mask the death that now surrounded them. In between each incense were small parchments with ancient incantations written on them that had small piles of salt place each one. While the Shredder's warriors were enamored by the sight before them, Drakken and Shego still remained skeptical over the whole matter.

"Ok, I've had just about enough of this magical hippie nonsense!" Drakken proclaimed "Consider this alliance ended, Shredder!"

The next thing he knew, Shredder had lunged forward and hoisted him into the air by his coat with one hand and unsheathed the blades with his other hands gauntlet before holding the blades inches away from the blue skinned scientist's eyes. Shego charged up her plasma bolts, but before she could rush in and save her boss, she felt the barrel of one of Tiger Claw's guns against the back of her head, forcing her to stand down.

"If that is what you wish, Drakken" the head of the Foot Clan replied coldly "then consider this alliance, and your life—terminated!"

"Whoa now, take it easy, Shredder!" Drakkened attempted "Maybe I was being a bit too hasty—no need to get upset!"

"Good" The Shredder grunted before dropping him

Stockman then flew over to Drakken as he picked himself off of the ground and snatched the Morpheus Machine out of his hands before handing it to his master. The Shredder then switched the device on and placed it upon the dead girl's head before ordering two of his Foot soldiers to strip the corpse of its clothing. The leader then personally gently picked the body up from the stretcher and carefully placed the body into the blood-coffin. But just before he completely submerged the corpse, he drew out a small syringe—a syringe full of mutagen.

"You're going to mutant her?" Demona questioned "Is she not the perfect warrior already?"

"Even the finest blades must be sharpened" the leader of the Foot clan answered, "This dose will not mutant her, but it will enhance her skills to new levels"

With that, the Shredder injected the dose of mutagen into the corpse's neck before fully dipping her into the pool of blood. Once he stepped back, he then commanded Bebop and Rocksteady to place the lid upon the coffin. Once the two mutants had done that, the ground of villains stepped back and waited for something to take place. Seconds later, a cold gust of air swept through the room, seemingly freezing the villains right down to their very souls in the process, even the Shredder couldn't help but wince for a moment at the sudden wind chill. Suddenly, the circle of charms began to glow a bright green color as the incense ignited into sticks of fire that shot upwards toward the circle and quickly turned into a circle of flames while the charms began to rise off the ground. The charms then shot out beams of green light toward the coffin, striking it dead on.

The collective assortment of villains had a vast array of emotions surge through them as they watch the spectacle before them. For Drakken and his henchwoman, they were both horrified by the site before them. They had seen the power of magic before, but never on this level. Bebop and Rocksteady were also equally horrified as they gazed upon the sight before them. Xever, Stockman and Rawzahr were astounded by the power they were witnessing, but now they realized that the Foot Clan now had the ultimate power in the world: the control over life and death itself. Tiger Claw also grasped the concept of what the Foot now had, but also wished to see the full might of this ultimate warrior they were bringing back to life. As for the Shredder and Demona, there merely looked on at the scene playing out in front of them with interest in their eyes, wondering if the spell would succeed or not. This technique hadn't been performed for centuries, so they were still unsure if this would go as they had planned.

Just as suddenly the ritual had begun, it ceased. The circle of flames faded away as the charms withered away into pieces of ash the blew away. The group of villains stood in silence, anxiously waiting to see if the fruits of their dark labors would prove successful. The coffin remained still, showing no signs that the body within had been returned to the world of the living. Minutes past by, but yet no one made a sound, for they were all still in awe at the event that they had collectively bared witness to. Suddenly, they heard the sound of the bloody within the coffin being sloshed around, as if something within it was trying to find a way out of the stone tomb. Soon, the sound of frenzied banging on the coffin's lid could be heard, making Drakken, his partner and Shredder's minions eyes widen in doing so, unable to mentally process any of what was transpiring right in front of them.

"No way…" was all Shego could say in stunned wonder

"It's not possible…" Drakken added on

A blood-soaked fist suddenly burst through the tomb's stone lid, making nearly jump in surprise—with the exception of Shredder and Demona. The fist was soon followed by the rest of the once dead girl as she frantically pulled her now blood drenched body out of the hole she had made before falling onto her hands and knees on the ground, gasping for air as she did. She yanked the Morpheus Machine off her head and smashed on the ground before tossing the pieces aside. No one moved, not even so much as blinked as they stared at the living impossibility in a mix of wonder, amazement and horror. The Black Sky then looked up at her audience as she still struggling to catch her breath with a mix of fear and confusion in her eyes, unsure as of what to make of them. Then in a flash, the once dead girl's expression from one of fear to one of pure animalistic rage as she let out a cry of fury at the group of villains before jumping to her feet at lunging at them at full speed.

Several of the Foot solders jumped in to defend their master. The mutants where about to join the fight, but the Shredder motioned for then to stop and only watch. The first Foot ninja drew his katanna and swung it at the girl, but she easily evaded the slash and uppercut the Foot soldier to the ground where she stomped on his neck and snapped upon impact, killing instantly. She then leapt at another ninja, jamming her thumbs into his eyes as she tackled him to the floor. Another ninja drew out a kursigama and flung it at the girl, wrapping the chain around one of the Black Sky's arms. The girl only let out an animal-like snarl before grabbing onto the chain and yanking her would-be captor forward and wrapping the rest of the chain around his neck before taking the weapon's scythe end and ramming the blade through the side of his head.

Just as she had tossed the lifeless body of her victim to the ground, the Black Sky was surrounded by three sudden clouds of black smoke that soon revealed three more Foot ninjas that now encircled her with their swords drawn. The blood-soaked girl snarled and snapped at the trio that surrounded her, like a wild beast that had been cornered. Still Shredder kept his mutants and his allies at bay, wanting to see the full extent of the Black Sky's ferocity first-hand. it shocked Drakken and Shego that Shredder would throw away his minions away so callously. Sure, they treated their minions like grunts, but at least they gave them some form of respect. As for Demona, she merely watched the slaughter unfold before her eyes with a grin on her face. not only was she seeing the fighting prowess of the legendary warrior, but the sight of any human dyeing in front of her was always a pleasure.

The blood-covered girl snatched one of the dead ninja's katannas and charged at her next opponents. A furious clash of blades broke out as the three Foot soldiers tried to keep pace with the rapid strikes the Black Sky unleashed on the clearly outclassed ninjas. The girl's instant with a sword astounded the group of villains as they continued to watch her put the Foot soldiers on the ever weakening defensive. Then with one swipe, the feral child sliced off one of the ninja's hands and caught his sword as it fell from his now severed hand. She then used both swords to finish off the wounded Foot ninja with a quick decapitation before slaying her other two opponents by impaling them upon her blades.

The Black Sky heaved for breath, but she still seeking blood. She looked back at the group of villains who had watched the bloodbath unfold in front of them. it was then that that Shredder stepped forward to face the girl he slew, wanting to see the full extent of her skills now that she was unleashed. He again gestured for his men to stand down as he wanted to face the girl alone. The Shredder unsheathed his wrists blades and lunged at the Black Sky just she launched an attack toward him. The two warriors clashed in a heated battle of blades, no quarter was asked and none was given. When they had fought before, Oroku could sense the true fighter within the girl, and now he was facing the Black Sky's true self, and she was pushing him to his limits—a feat only Hamato Yoshi had done.

"Should we jump in?" Rocksteady asked the group

"I don't wanna get in the middle of that" Bebop replied

"You won't have to" Demona told them "Look"

With one clean strike, Shredder's wrist blades broke the sword in two. Despite the loss of her weapon, the Black Sky still craved the Shredder's blood and threw a wild punch at him. however, he grabbed onto her fist and put it behind her back before doing the same with the other. He then kicked her legs out from under her, forcing her onto her knees, all the while she struggled against him.

"Calm yourself" he said in a soft yet still firm tone

The Black Sky snapped and struggled for several more minutes until finally she settled down out of exhaustion. The Shredder then loosened his grip on the girl before throwing his cape around her to cover her before helping her back to her feet. The feral child only looked up at the head of the Foot Clan with a sort mix of perplexment and wonder, still unsure as to what to make of the bladed man. while the others were amazing by the instant power the Shredder had over the resurrected girl, Demona could only form a wicked grin on her lips.

"We have our weapon" she said


	4. Alliances

Chapter Four: Alliances

While Penn and the others were admittedly still in awe over the fact that they now joined forces with world famous teen superhero, Kim Possible, and by extension her sidekick/boyfriend, Ron Stoppable, there was still work to be done. Before the Ninja could further tell the others about the new enemy they now faced, the group of hero quickly abandoned the crime scene and retreated from the area entirely. The group of newly united heroes where then lead back to Kim's car that was park in an alleyway where her partner turned lover was waiting for his girlfriend's return, sitting in the passenger side and eating nachos with a naked mole rat as he did. However, upon seeing the crowd that his girlfriend had brought back with her, he immediately dropped his chips and fumbled his way out of the car with his pet on his shoulder.

"Uh, KP, you didn't tell me we were having company!" he said, clearly surprised

"Turns out I wasn't the one who had the idea of checking out that crime scene" his girlfriend replied before turning to face the others "Now then, who are you guys anyway?"

"I'm Penn Zero, and this is my friend, Boone" Penn introduced to Kim and Ron "We were trying to find where my girlfriend, Sashi, had gone. Her body wasn't recovered, so we think that that whoever did this might have kidnapped her"

"I'm sorry to hear that" Kim offered in a sympatric voice before looking over to the Ninja "and you're the Norrisville Ninja, right?"

"Uh, yeah" Randy confirmed, still stunned by who was speaking to him "It's an honor to meet you person, Ms. Possible"

"Ms. Possible? Seriously?" Howard said in a mix of confusion and disgust at his friend's words "You may as well kiss her kiss while you're at it!"

Randy quickly silenced the portly boy with a sharp jab to his stomach with his elbow.

"And this is my friend, Howard" he continued

"So, what exactly are you doing in Middleburg?" Kim asked

"We could ask you the same thing" Penn mentioned "Shouldn't you be chasing after the Drakken guy instead of sneaking around some crime scene?"

"Like we we're doing" Boone added on, making Penn grimace

"I'll explain everything, but not here" the young agent answered, "You guys wouldn't happen to have somewhere safe we can talk, would you?"

"We can go to my house" the former part-time hero offered "We'll be safe there"

Kim nodded in agreement before gesturing to the rest of the group to enter her vehicle. Admittedly, it was a rather tight squeeze, what with four extra people piling into the back of an already small car, but aside from Howard's complaining, they made it work. After giving Kim the directions to his home, Penn remained silent for the extent of the ride there. His thoughts were still on Sashi and where she could possibly be. What had she'd been wrapped in that caught the attention of two well-known superheroes? Before Kim Possible's arrival the Ninja had said that he was hunting other ninjas and that his search had lead him to the Sashi's apartment building, but why attack the building in the first place? So many questioned swirled around in his head that he hoped his new allies could answer.

Rather than try to sneak everyone into his house, Penn instead called his parents on the way ack to his home. He told them what he had done and everything else that followed and expected to be chewed out by his mother and farther, but instead of getting a lecture, he instead received nothing but their love and understanding as they always gave them. The moment the group of heroes pulled into the Zero's driveway, they found Penn's mother and farther standing there waiting for them. After a quick introduction, they began to head inside the house before Kim and Ron suddenly stopped midway there.

"Hold up guys, we forgot something in the trunk" Kim informed the others "We might need your help getting into your house"

Penn and the Ninja nodded in unison before following the superhero couple back to their car where they were then lead to the back of the vehicle. When Kim opened it the other two heroes gasped in shock at what now laid before them. It was the man who the former part-time hero had seen at both his house and at the crime scene. He had been bound and gagged and was covered in several bruises, a clear indicator that he had painfully lost the fight against the two teens. as for the Ninja, he was taken aback at this man up close and personal. Randy had seen the man on occasion as both the Ninja and in his civilian identity, always standing in the background watching him like a creep. He always assumed that the man was just another random face in the crowd, but seeing him here now made him start to question if standing in the background was all he really did.

"Who is this guy?" Penn asked

"Our lead" Kim simply answered

* * *

The Shredder stayed silent as he sat opposite from his reborn warrior at the table. He had ordered that the girl to be bathed and clothed. Her new attire that a black kimono with red cherry blossom patterns on it, it was a dress that Oroku had once given to Karai as a birthday present once year. After she was properly dressed, the Black Sky was then brought to a training room where the Shredder sat at a table waiting for her. She was then given not a weapon, but a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks. At first, the Black Sky only stared blankly at the bowl before her for several seconds before looking back up at Oroku with confusion in her eyes, as if she was waiting for him to give her a command.

"Eat" he said

The Black Sky cautiously reached for the chopsticks before slowly picking them up and using them to pick up a small bit of rice for her to consume. After eating the first bit of rice, she began to pick up more speed in eating the rice before tossing the chopsticks aside and began to scoop up the food from the bowl with just her hands. The Shredder kept his silence, only watching the girl without a single sign of judgement in his eyes. Once she was done with the rice, the Black Sky looked back up at the one who had brought her back from the realm of the dead with a questioning look on her face. She then slowly brought a hand up before pointing at herself. then, she began to do something that the head of the Foot Clan didn't think possible after her resurrection: speak.

"W…who…am I?" she asked hesitantly, forcing the words out of her mouth as she did

Now this was something that the Shredder wasn't expecting. From the stories he had heard about those brought back the Foot Clan in the past, the resurrected were normally unable to speak for weeks due to their brain functions being slowed down after being summoned back from the dead. To see that the Black Sky was able to regain her speech only hours after her resurrection furthered proved the inherit skill the girl possessed. The Black Sky continued to stare at the leader of the ninja clan, hoping that he would give her the answer she sought.

"You are the Black Sky" he finally replied

"Black…Sky?" the human weapon repeated questioningly

"Yes" Shredder confirmed "You are the living embodiment of our clan's power"

"Our…clan?" the girl asked

"The Foot Clan" Oroku informed her "Your family. The only family you have ever known. The one you a sworn to defend against its enemies at all cost"

"Enemies?" the Black Sky pondered "who are…our enemies?"

"We have many, and in due time you will slay them all" Shredder informed her "But for now, you must rest and regain your strength, for soon you will be called upon to destroy all who oppose us!"

The living weapon only looked back at the head of the clan she was now a part of before giving a nod in understanding. The Shredder stood up from his seat, which the Black Sky did in unison, thinking that she was leaving with him. However, the bladed warrior gestured for her to sit back down, to which she complied. Once she was seated once more, Oroku walked away from the table and exited the training room. The moment he stepped out of the training room and had closed the door behind her, he found Demona standing before him with crossed arms and a vexed look in her eyes.

"I thought you had found the ultimate warrior, not a new pet" she chided

"It would be in your best interest not to anger me, witch!" Shredder sharply warned, popping one of his wrist blades to get his point across

"I don't fear you, Saki!" the gargoyle hissed back, baring her fangs as she did

"A fatal error on your part" the blade covered ninja commented

"I thought we agreed that the girl was to be our weapon, but yet here you are coddling the Black Sky like a toddler!" Demona scolded

"If you think I am doing such a thing, then you have gravely underestimated me" Oroku said before starting to walk away "follow me"

While she was still skeptical of the Shredder's words, Demona followed her accomplice into a small room that had a view screen into the training room where the Black Sky remained seated as she was instructed to do so. Seeing the girl sitting alone, occasionally looking around the room, almost made Demona forget that this was the lethal creature on the planet. However, she feared that Shredder was taking it much too easy on the resurrected girl and was denying her of her full potential. Suddenly, six puffs of black smoke surrounded the girl before revealing six Foot Clan soldiers, all of whom had their weapons drawn and ready to strike down the reborn girl.

Like the flick of a light switch, the Black Sky went from a scared little girl to the wild animal she was when she was first brought back from the dead. She shot out of her chair and kicked her table right into one of the ninjas before he could react, knocking him into a wall from the force of the blow. The other five ninjas rushed her at once, but the living weapon took hold of her chair and swung it like a cull circular motion, knocking her adversaries away from her before breaking off one of the legs of her makeshift weapon and hurled it into the chest of the ninjas, killing him instantly. With one of her attackers slain, the Black Sky rushed over to the now dead Foot soldiers body and took his weapon just as another two ninjas leapt at her.

With little effort, the reborn warrior blocked the duo's attack with her newly acquired blade. She slashed and parried every move her opponents made, dodging and leaping around the room as trio continued their battle. The ninja who had been hit by the table had finally managed to get to his feet just in time to join the other two soldiers who were keeping their distance from the fight, waiting for their chance to make a move. One of the ninjas took out a handful of throwing stars and threw them at the Black Sky when her back was turned. However, instead of striking down the girl, the resurrected warrior back flipped over one of her opponents and allowed him to take the stars in the chest. Just as her second victim dropped the ground in a lifeless heap, she disemboweled the other fighter she was dueling with one quick slash across the stomach before focusing on the three remaining Foot soldiers.

While he was more than certain that the Black Sky was capable of dispatching the remaining soldiers in the room, Oroku had more than proven his point to Demona that he had no intention of softening the weapon they had risen from the dead. He then stepped out of the observation room and reentered the training room where he then ordered his remaining warriors to leave so that he and the girl could speak alone—save for Demona who was still in the observation room listening in on their conversation. If she had lingering doubt that Shredder was holding back the Black Sky had been cast aside after seeing the little demonstration he had put together for her.

The Black Sky heaved for breath as she let out an animal-like snarl, her bloodlust consuming her thoughts as she craved for more combatants to slay. The Shredder kept up a strong face, but he remained cautious, for he knew the girl could easily turn on him in this state. He kept his guard up as he approached his weapon. The Black Sky's body tensed as the head of the Foot Clan approached her, ready to spring at him at a moment's notice.

"Well done" he commended the girl "you far exceed all of my expectations"

"I…I want to…to kill more" the living weapon forced herself to say, still trying to get used to speaking

"And you will, my child" Shredder assured "But for now you must rest. You will need your strength for when you face our clan's enemies"

Despite wanting to state her hunger for combat, the reborn warrior nodded in understanding before following Oroku out of the room, all the while Demona watched from the viewing room. The gargoyle couldn't help but let a fanged grin form on her lips after watching yet another display of the Black Sky's skill and ferocity. One thing she still wanted answered was what was the effect of the mutagen that the Shredder injected her with before bringing her back. Demona had hoped to see if it had increased the girls inherit skills like Oroku had claimed it would, but it was hard to tell if that was the case or if she required a greater challenge in order to unlock her latent new abilities. She had to know if the Black Sky had been altered by the mutagen or not if she was to continue with her own plans for the girl.

It was then that the gargoyle had an idea cross her mind. Perhaps there was a way to both test the Black Sky and dispatch her enemies. She didn't want to throw the living weapon at Goliath and his clan right away without fully knowing that she was capable of taking them head on. Ninjas where one thing, but Demona's former love and clan mates had proven time and again they could overcome even the most formidable enemies, and even with the legendary skill the Black Sky was born, Demona still had her concerns that even those said skills were no match for a family of battle tested gargoyles. However, in her immortal lifespan, Goliath and Macbeth weren't the only enemies that the witch had made, and one in particular had stolen something very important to her years ago.

However, if she was to unleash the Black Sky on this old adversary, she would have to take to take the girl out of Manhattan, and she doubted The Shredder would agree to such a thing considering his enemies were here. But Demona could care less about the needs and wants of a human, after all, she only agreed to remain allies with Oroku was simply to obtain the Black Sky so that they could unleash her one their adversaries, so in a way, she was only doing what they had always planed on. She could afford flying herself and the child out to where she wished to go, but the trouble was getting the girl out of the Foot's headquarters. On the other hand, she had a pretty good idea as to who could be of use to her in this endeavor.

* * *

"You saw that? Tell me you saw that?!" Drakken demanded from his henchwoman in a state of panic as he paced about the lab "That girl came back from the dead!"

"I was there Dr. D, I saw it to" Shego replied in a causal tone, as if she was unaffected by what she had just witnessed

"I—I mean she was dead—like dead, dead—and then she just sprung out of the coffin!" her boss continued in hysterics

"Yeah, that was a rather unconventional experience, wasn't it?" his partner commented

Drakken glared back at Shego. True, the woman usually had an indifferent outlook on most things, but this wasn't one of her boss's classic screw-ups—they had just witnessed the resurrection of a human being, how could she remain calm after seeing that?! Everything the blue-skinned scientist knew about the laws of nature had been desecrated and his right-hand woman had simply brushed the whole event off.

"How can you be at peace about this, woman?!" he demanded "we just watched the Shredder and that gargoyle defile a corpse and turn it into a killing machine!"

"I'm not 'at peace' with it, Dr. D" Shego confessed "But there's really nothing we can do about it, now is there?"

She had a point in that regard. Shredder had the backing of both his mutant and non-mutant forces as well as Demona in using the Black Sky while they were the odd ones out. Both Drakken and Shego knew that despite what the Shredder had told them about helping them destroy Kim Possible they now had targets on their backs now that their part of the deal was done. They now had one of two options: stay and make sure they could still be of use to the others or try to escape. Drakken hated the idea of either being a whipping boy or running away like a coward, but in the short time he had known Shredder, he learned that he was no man, but a monster.

"Weighing your options, I see?" came a voice in the door way

The two villains turned around to see none other than Demona herself standing before them. Drakken let out a yelp before darting behind Shego, who was already charging up her plasma bolts in anticipation of a fight. However, the gargoyle merely strode into the lab and approached the duo, showing no signs of hostility toward either them. However, Drakken and Shego kept their guard up around the winged creature, still fearing that she had been sent to by Shredder to dispatch them.

"You can stand down, I mean you no harm" she assured them "In fact, I need your help with a certain matter"

"Yeah, no, we're not doing that" Shego denied

"Even if it meant being spared from the Shredder's wrath?" the winged creature reasoned "I'm sure you've both realized that your usefulness is coming to an end. And in the short time I've worked with our mutual partner I can tell you that he doesn't like loose ends"

"And we'd be better off with you?" the henchwoman chided

"It's not like you have much of a choice" Demona reminded

Unfortunately, the gargoyle had a point. There was still a very good chance that she could betray them just as easily as the Shredder could, however like she had said, neither of the villainous duo had much of a choice in the matter. At least with Demona they could overwhelm her if she did attempt to betray them whereas the Shredder would have army at his command. On the other hand, they were still unaware as to what exactly Demona wanted from them.

"What do you want us to do?" Drakken inquired

"It's simple: help me smuggle the Black Sky out of the building" the gargoyle explained "I have enemies of my own I need to kill, and I have no intention of being slowed down by Shredder's own vendettas"

"So, you want to take her for your personal attack dog, is that it?" Shego gathered "For forgive me for saying this, but it's not like you can take for a walk in a crowd"

Instead of replying to that, Demona only chuckled in response as before pointing to a nearby window within the lab. Drakken and Shego looked to see the fading of the night and the rising dawn of a new day. They had been so preoccupied by everything that had transpired that neither of them had mentally registered that the night was ending. This however did not explain why Demona wanted them to see the rising sun. Suddenly, they heard a cry of pain that came from the winged villainess. They spun around to find her in the midst of what looked like a painful transformation. Her dark blue skin turned pale white while her wings retracted and tail reacted into her body. Her fangs, claws and other beastly parts morphed into more a more human shape. After several seconds, Demona had gone from looking like a monster to a beautiful woman.

"How did—why—it doesn't—gah!" Drakken sputtered out in a fit of confused anger "I've had just about enough this nonsense!"

"Then help me and you won't have to" Demona said with a devilish smirk "Here what I want you do…"


	5. Torment

Chapter Five: Torment

As Penn helped his new allies drag their prisoner into his garage, he had to mentally rationalize what was going on. He had gone from looking for his missing girlfriend, to helping two superheroes drag in some man who had seen in the background for the past two days into his home. Penn had dealt with his share of bizarre moments throughout his occupation as a part-time hero, but this wasn't some strange world within the vastness of the multiverse where the rules of this earth didn't apply, this was his world, and he was unsure if he had it in him to go through with what was to come next. While the former hero still had no idea has to how Kim Possible had managed to capture this man, and a part of him didn't want to know how, but he had a strong feeling as to what her next move was.

Boone was as equally confused as to handle these current events as his friend was. He was already hesitant on the idea of following Penn to the crime scene, and now here he here was, apparently assisting in what by all accounts was kidnapping and there was no way to stop it now. Weather the former Wiseman liked it or not, he was in for the long haul of whatever this and would have to see it through to the end. Admittedly, Boone was still inwardly skeptical about Sashi's chances of still being alive, but he refused to leave Penn's side regardless of the situation. Plus, he was actuality hanging out with the Ninja of Norrisville and Kim Possible—how cool was that?!

That was something neither of the former part-time heroes could get over. True, they were heroes in their own right and had saved the multiverse from plunging into total chaos more times than they could count, but the fact that they were standing side by side with these great heroes still made them feel a bit star struck. Granted, Penn did pick a fight with the Ninja back at the crime scene, but after realizing who he really was, the ginger was taken aback that he was standing before the protector of Norrsiville. The same could be said with working alongside Kim and Ron, two teen superheroes who had become almost like legends in their time. From fighting golf-themed supervillains to stopping an alien invasion, Kim Possible and her sidekick turned boyfriend had done it all. However, despite the honor of now being aligned with these said legends, Penn still had one concern on his mind above all else: where was Sashi?

It all still didn't make any sense to the former part-time hero. Why were Kim, Ron and the Ninja involved? He remembered that the defender of Norrisville had mentioned that he was searching for something called the Black Sky, but what did that have to do with Sashi? Was it some sort of priceless family heirloom that the Kobayashi's had? Doubtful, considering that whoever murdered Sashi's family wouldn't attract both the Ninja's and Kim's attention just for something they could've easily stolen without harming anyone to get it. And that was the other thing: who killed the Kobayashi's? Penn considered that since the teen secret agent was here that it was one of her villains like Dr. Drakken or Monkeyfist, but even her fiercest of enemies were never this brutal. Perhaps it was a new player that both the Ninja and Kim were tracking separately until their paths converged on Middleburg and Sashi and her family were the victims of this new villain. There was also another puzzle Penn wished to solve: who was this creep in the cowboy hat?

As they dragged the stranger into the garage, he didn't attempt to fight back or even struggle against them. He remained calm and collected as he was pulled into the Zero's home, which was odd behavior for someone who had just been kidnapped and stuffed into the trunk of a van. The man kept quiet as he was taken into the Zero family's garage. Not even so much as a single sound escaped his lips as the heroes pulled him into the room. The stranger's face didn't express any sign of fear or confusion, only a still yet pensive façade graced his face. It was almost as if this man wanted to be captured by the newly assembled group. Penn still had no idea as to what role this stranger had in Sashi's disappearance or his ties to the other heroes, but if this meant the boy was one step closer to finding out the whereabouts of his missing girlfriend, then he would get his answers one way or another.

"Get some rope" Kim firmly ordered as she pulled out a lawn chair that was sitting in the garage

"I don't think we have any" Penn replied, snapping back to reality as he did

"But I do" the Ninja interjected "Ninja rope!"

Just as he said those words, the hero of Norrisville pulled out a piece of long black and red rope before handing it to Ron, who alongside his girlfriend, tied down their captive to the chair Kim had pulled out. The stranger continued to remain silent as the two teens tightly bound his arms, legs and chest to the lawn chair, making it impossible for him to move. As this was going on, Penn's parents and the Ninja's friend, Howard, stood at the sidelines taking all this in with shared feeling of apprehension in their hearts. They knew that their loved ones weren't capable of killing, but torture on the other hand, seemed possible considering what had transpired since all this madness began.

"Penn" his father spoke up in concerned tone "can we talk for a second?"

Penn glanced over to Kim, who nodded in understanding before he went over to speak with his parents in private. The Zero's stepped out of the garage and back into the house where they could talk amongst themselves in peace.

"Penn, are you sure you want to go through with this?" his mother asked cautiously "we know you want to find Sashi, but this…this a line you might not be able to come back from"

"I'll do whatever it takes to find her, mom" her son answered, though he was still unsure "if you're not cool with this, just call the cops and I'll tell the others to stop"

"I don't think that guy would fear the police" Brock mentioned "and so far, they've proven ineffective in this entire case"

Being former part-time heroes themselves, Brock and Vonnie knew that sometimes one had to take the law into their own hands if they wanted justice. Even before he knew that they were protectors of the multiverse, Penn's parents never put much faith in the police, always saying that if there was a crisis of any kind at their home, they would handle it themselves. Brock and Vonnie also once told Penn during one of their discussions via Muhu that he would have to face some hard truths while being a hero, and sometimes that meant partaking in the act that was now upon him. Unlike his parents, Penn never had to torture his enemies to get what he wanted, he usually depended on his cunning to trick his adversaries into giving him what he wanted. But this was different, for the teen had a strong sense that his captive wasn't to be outwitted by the redhead's taunts like Rippin was.

"Maybe we should interrogate him, hun" his mother suggested "your father and I have more experience in this field"

"No…no it has to me who questions him" her son denied slowly "if he has any idea where Sashi is, then I have to get it out of him"

The boy's parents gave one another a concerned look. They had become accustomed to using more extreme methods to getting answers, but their son had never experienced something like this before, nor did he had any idea what it did to a person after carrying out the deed. Brock and Vonnie had each other to keep them stable, but their child was still young and without Sashi at his to him strength, they had no idea how this would affect him. They would've gladly done this in his stead, but they could see from the determination in Penn's eyes that he would do anything to have the girl he loved back in his arms again.

"Just…let us know if its gets too much for you and we'll step in for you" Vonnie told him gently

"Thanks, mom" Penn replied with a hug

With a calming breath, the former part-time hero turned and stepped back into the garage, where he found Boone and the other heroes had huddled up to discuss their next course of action while Howard snuck into the house, thinking more about his stomach than his morality really. Howard also carried Ron's pet naked mole rat, Rufus, into the house with him, whom Ron wanted to keep away from their hostage in case things became too dangerous during the interrogation. As the redhead stepped back into the garage, Boone gestured for Penn to join the rest of the group. As the redhead walked over to the others, he shot a harsh glare at his captive, who merely smirked back as he gave him a small nod in return to his glare.

"Penn, you've gotta hear what these guys told me" Boone told his friend as he joined their huddle "It might have something to do with where Sashi is"

"Like I was telling your friend, Ron and I have been chasing after Dr. Drakken and Shego after they stole a device called the Morpheus Machine" Kim began "we stopped them, but less than a week later, Shego came back to lab where the Morpheus Machine was being kept with a team of ninjas backing her up. This time they managed to get away with it before we could stop them"

"Wait, did you say ninjas?" Penn questioned "That's who supposedly attacked Sashi's apartment building"

"The Foot Clan" the Ninja confirmed "they're an organization that's been around since ancient Japan. They've infiltrated almost every form of government in the world"

"And how do you know about these guys?" Ron asked suspiciously

"It's kinda a long story" the hero of Norrisville answered "Look, the point is that these guys are not the type to be screwed with. And if you think the Foot Clan are the ones who helped Shego steal that device, then this just got a whole lot more complicated"

"That still doesn't explain why they attacked Sashi's home" Penn pointed out

"Didn't you mention something about a Black Sky earlier?" the former Wiseman asked the Ninja

"All I know is that it's supposedly the ultimate weapon and that the Foot Clan have been looking for it for centuries" the black-clad protector replied, "I don't know what it is or what it does, but we can't let the Foot get to it first"

"So, how about we ask our little friend what it does?" Kim advised as she looked back over to their captive

"Yeah, about that, question: who the hell is this guy anyway?" the redhead inquired as he and the others also turned their attention back to the man "I saw him when Sashi left my house yesterday and then I saw him again earlier today talking to the police investigating the crime scene"

"I've seen him around Norrisville to" the Ninja added on "he's always in the background wherever I go. I never gave it much thought, but now I'm starting to think it wasn't a coincidence"

"We caught this guy on the lab's security cameras sneaking around the building the day before Shego broke in with her new ninja buddies" Kim said to the others "We chased him all the way here to Middleburg where we caught him just outside your girlfriend's apartment complex"

"And when you see a guy suspiciously wondering two places where crazy junk went down, you just know somethings no Bueno!" her boyfriend furthered

"So, uh…how are we gonna get this guy to talk?" Penn questioned, trying to hide his hesitation as he did

No one answered the teen's question. everyone collectively shared a pensive yet unsure look toward one another. They had gotten this far, but yet they were unable to bring themselves to go on to the next step. Their captive knew that they did have the stomach to carry out the deed and couldn't help but smirk wickedly at the teen's inexperience.

"Is this your first time trying to intimidate someone?" he suddenly asked "protip: don't show your inexperience to your enemy"

"Shut up!" Kim commanded "you don't talk until we say you do—got it?!"

"Here's another tip for you: when you start shouting at your victim before the torture actuality begin, you've lost" the man continued with an added mocking grin on his lips

The anger and frustration was clearly evident on Kim's face as she glowered down at her captive as she clenched her hands into fists. He was right, none of the heroes within the room had ever done anything like this before, and even if they did, the teen secret agent had an idea that the man had experienced far worse than whatever they could come up with to hurt him. In a blind fit of rage, Kim raised her fist to crack it across her hostage's jaw, but just before she could strike him, the Ninja suddenly reached out and took hold of her wrist, stopping her assault before it had even begun.

"I think I might have a way to make him talk" he offered

To get his point his across, the Ninja pulled out a large black and red book from his pocket. While Boone and Ron were left questioning how in the world the hero of Norrisville could hold all these items at once, Kim and Penn could only look at the ancient book in the Ninja's hands in awe.

"What is that?" Penn asked

"This is the Ninjanomicon" the fellow hero explained "this tome contains over eight-hundred years of knowledge of the Ninja"

"And how exactly is a book going to help us right now?" Kim questioned

"The book can transfer a person's consciousness into it" the Ninja replied, "If I can get this guy into the book, then maybe I can get some answers out of him while he's trapped in there"

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get in there!" the former part-time hero said in a hastily tone

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Penn, I know you wanna find your girlfriend, but you can't come with me" Norrisville's defender denied "when I'm in the Nomicon I have to show my true self, and I have to keep my identity a secret. Plus, the Nomicon throws a major fit when I bring unwanted guests into it"

"I don't care what your books says!" Penn snapped back "If he knows anything about Sashi, then I'm going in there with you!"

The Ninja's eyes narrowed at Penn, who in turn glared back at him. Boone was shocked at his best friend's outburst, but he could understand his anger. Sashi meant the world to Penn, even from the first time they worked together on their first mission, the former Wiseman could tell that there was a spark between them—even if they couldn't see it between them. Despite having crushes on pirates and dragons, Boone always knew that his two best friends would end up together. But now was not the time for Penn to lose control, for if he started another fight with the Ninja, they could lose their chance of finding Sashi forever. Thankfully, Kim came between the two boys and attempted to defuse the situation.

"Easy fellas. We're all on the same side here, remember?" she calmly yet cautiously reminded her allies before speaking to the Ninja "I know you have secret identity to keep, but if this Black Sky is some dangerous weapon that need to be kept out these Foot guys hands, then we need to work as a team to stop them. I swear to you that neither nor I will not reveal your identity to anyone else, ok?"

The Ninja paused for a moment as he weighed the worth behind her words. While Randy was still hesitant of letting outsiders into the Nomicon considering that last time he did that was with Debbie Kang and that nearly cost him both his role and memories as the Ninja. On the other hand, Kim Possible has proven time and time again that she was a true hero, so perhaps he could take her word at face value. However, there was the matter of Penn he still had to consider. While Randy did sympathize with the ginger about wanting to find his missing girlfriend, the Ninja still had no idea what this boy was capable of. even if he was a good person at heart, his emotions were taking control of his way of thinking, and that made him unpredictable. Then again, who's to say Randy would listen to reason if Howard or Theresa were possibly in the clutches of some unknown evil force. How far would the boy go to see his loved ones safe and sound? He honestly couldn't say for sure. So, against his better judgment, he decided to let Penn join him on his schlomp into the Nomicon.

"Fine" he finally conceited "but while we're in there, both you have to do exactly as I say, got it?"

Penn and Kim nodded in unison before the former part-time hero looked back at Boone and Ron.

"Boone, you and Ron keep watch while we're inside the book" he ordered

"We've got you covered, dude" his best friend assured with a salute

"Oh, this is going to be fun" their captive commented

"Yeah, for us" the Ninja answered defiantly "now smile for the birdie!"

With that, Randy threw open the book as he held it in front of the man's face. A bright light flashed from the pages of the ancient tome before the man suddenly slumped over in his chair, indicating that his mind had been transferred into the book. Once their hostage was within the Nomicon, Penn and Kim each took hold of the Ninja's shoulders and nodded to once more to show that they were ready for the transfer. Seeing that they were prepared for the trip, Randy turned the book toward himself and his allies before they to mentally traveled inside the book.

The next thing Penn and Kim knew, they were inside what appeared to be an imperial palace from the feudal era of Japan. The two teens couldn't help but be in awe of the sight that now surrounded them. The palace was decorated with beautiful paintings of cranes, tigers and dragons. Jade statues of samurai graced the corners of the room while opened doorway revealed a breathtaking view of a vast wildness that seemed to stretch out as far as the eye could see. It was difficult for the two teens to comprehend that were still inside a book, but they had to remind themselves that this merely an illusion and that they had a task to do. Just then, a purple haired boy around their age stepped into the room.

"Ah, there you guys are" he said to them "sorry, the Nomicon must've split us up when we came in"

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Penn questioned

"I think he's the Ninja" Kim surmised

"Randy Cunningham. At your service" he reintroduced himself with a handshake

"But I thought the Ninja was over eight hundred years old?" Penn pointed out

"Only the title is that old" another voice answered

The group turned to see another Ninja dressed in a different styled costume walk into the room, and he wasn't alone. Following close behind him were pair of hulking guards dressed in samurai armor with the Ninja's insignia on the chest plate. The two samurai were also dragging in their hostage, who still kept his calm, cold demeanor to him as he pulled into the room. Unlike Randy, this Ninja seemed to have this sort aura of authority about him as he entered the room, making Randy instinctively look down in sham as the other masked warrior approached

"And meant to be a secret" the other Ninja sternly reminded Randy "or have you forgotten that rule as you do so many others?"

"Well, it's not like I could tell you ahead of time that we we're having guests, sensei" Randy reasoned innocently before looking back to the others "Guys this is Nosu, the first Ninja and my teacher"

"Uh, hi" Penn awkwardly greeted "nice, uh, book, you've got here"

"Welcome, fellow heroes" Nosu answered with a respectful bow "The Nomicon has looked into your hearts and has seen the purity within them"

"Oh sure, they get a friendly hello, but I get chewed out" the new Ninja grumbled to himself

Nosu shot a look to Randy before turning his attention back to the man the teens had brought with them. Like before, the man seemed unfazed by being held against his will, only this was different, the uninitiated would at least be shocked and disoriented by the sights all around them. But the man only kept a steady face as his line of sight focused directly on the first Ninja. Hoping to get a reaction out of him, Nosu gestured for the samurai to step aside. Once they moved away from the stranger, Nosu snapped his fingers. Not even a second after the snap, chains and shackles suddenly materialized from out of thin air and bound his wrists and ankles before a stockade was formed to close around his neck and arms. However, the man didn't so much as flinch as he was entrapped by the Ninja's power.

If the first Ninja was surprised by this, he didn't show it on his face. He remained stoic as he began to circle around his prisoner, matching his aura of cold collectiveness with his own as he moved around him like a shark smelling fresh blood. Randy and the others stood back and let the ancient work, hoping that he could get the answers that they could not. Randy always knew that his sensei was always intense, but this felt like a whole other for his master. It was as if the First Ninja knew that this man was not some common thug, but a servant of true evil. Randy's teacher had once told him that to combat the forces of darkness, one must remain calm and steady so that one could not show fear to those one fought against, something clearly his sensei had much experience in. Nosu continued to circle around his captive for several more seconds in silence before finally speaking.

"You are unafraid" he surmised "Like you were prepared to enter the Nomicon"

"My master taught me to kill my fears and embrace only my true potential" the man replied

"And who is your master?" Nosu inquired

"Oh, I think you already know who I serve, Ninja" the creep answered with a smirk "your just scared to admit it"

Nosu narrowed his eyes at the man, but said nothing as his hostage grinned darkly back at him.

"I see…" the first Ninja began "then you are a member of the Foot Clan"

"Indeed, I am" the man confirmed "I must say that it is something of a pleasure to finally meet you in person, traitor"

"I betrayed only thieves and monsters. My conscious is clear, worm!" Nosu proclaimed defiantly

"Nosu, there's something you need to know" Randy spoke up "The Foot are looking for the Black Sky!"

"Not looking for, boy, found" the Foot warrior corrected "after centuries of searching, we have finally attained the ultimate weapon!"

Everyone let out a collective gasp in shock upon hearing those words. While the teens still had no idea as to what the Black Sky was exactly, but if the Foot wanted it so badly, it could only spell doom for the world. hearing more than enough, Penn stormed up to his captive's face with a harsh look in his eyes. It was time to figure out what his lover's fate was once and for all.

"Is that why you kidnapped Sashi—so you can test this weapon on her?" Penn demanded

The Foot ninja suddenly let out a dark yet haughty laugh at the boy's question, making everyone, even Nosu, feel uneasy.

"You have eyes boy, but you cannot see the truth that is in front of you!" the man continued to laugh

"What Truth?" Penn shouted in the man's face "Tell Me!"

"There are many types of weapons in this world" the Foot ninja began "some are forged from metal...while others, are made of flesh"

And like a nuclear bomb going off in his very soul, the answer exploded in his mind. Penn was stunned silent as he slowly backed away from his captive, all the while shaking his head in disbelief at the truth he just couldn't accept. His allies looked at Penn in confusion as he continued to back away from everyone.

"Penn, what's wrong?" Kim asked in concern

"They didn't use the Black Sky on Sashi" Penn said in disbelief "She is the Black Sky!"

Both Randy and Kim were horrified by the sudden revelation. However, Nosu seemed unfazed by Penn's words, which was something that his student instantly caught onto. Randy clenched his fists in anger as he stormed up to his master.

"You knew, didn't you?" he gritted through his teeth "you knew this whole damn time, and you didn't bother to tell us!"

"I knew the Black Sky was a person" Nosu affirmed "But I did not know who it was. There is only one born every hundred years. And even then, they are either killed before they realize what they are or go about their lives without knowing their true potential"

"So, what made the Foot so sure that Sashi was the Black Sky?" Kim mentioned

"We watched her for months" the Foot ninja answered "we have contacts in every corner of the world, so when our sources here in Middleburg informed us of a girl who possessed all the skills and qualities of the Black Sky, my master ordered me to abandon my post at Norrisville and investigate the girl. And sure enough, she was indeed the perfect warrior"

"So that's why you we're in Norrisville!" Randy concluded "you were keeping tabs on me this whole time!"

"While the Ninja of Norrisville holds the title of our clan's eldest traitor, there was much more to it than that" their hostage answered "we believed you, Randy Cunningham, were the next Black Sky. So, I was sent to recruit you into our clan, but then the NinjaNomicon appeared before I could speak to you and made you the next Ninja. My master ordered me to watch you to see if you could still be the one despite being the next holder of the mask. However, it became quite clear that you were not the destined weapon we once thought you to be. So, yes, I did stay behind in Norrisville to keep an eye on you in case you were to ever become a threat to us, and should that happen, kill you"

"But then you found out about Sashi" Kim finished

"It didn't take us long to determine that she was the one that we had been searching for. The rage, the intellect, the fighting skills of a master—it was all there!" their hostage said in an almost gleeful tone before looking directly at Penn "why did you think that she was recruited by Phyllis despite not having a lineage of guardians of the multiverse like you and your friend? She knew exactly what Sashi was and wanted to use her inherit prowess as a force for good—but instead she only proved that the girl was the true Black Sky!"

"Uh, what's he talking about?" Randy asked, obviously dumbfounded by all this

"It's was mine and Sashi's job" Penn replied "we, along with Boone, protected the Multiverse from the forces of evil. I was the hero, Sashi was the sidekick and Boone was the Wiseman. But we're retired from that job now, and I thought shit like this would never happen on my own earth"

"Weird, but I've seen and done stranger stuff" Kim easily accepted

"Same" Randy added simply

It was surprising to Penn that the other heroes would just accept that he was once an interdimensional guardian just like that. but then again, the ginger figured that they had seen their fair share of astonishing feats in their own adventures, so prepares the multiverse wasn't a totally out of reach for their suspension of disbelief.

"Every mission your boss sent you on was simply another exercise the girl's skills" their captive furthered "we waited until the right moment for Phyllis to be done with you all before we moved in"

"Sashi would never join you!" Penn shot back defiantly

"Not willfully, but my master has his ways" the hostage said

"What do you mean?" the former part-time hero growled

"I've told you enough as it is" the man suddenly refused "I think it's time we ended this little game of ours"

"Newsflash creep: you're our prisoner" the teen secret agent "this only ends when we say it does. Then you get to spend the rest of your days in a nice cozy cell in a Global Justice Network super-max prison"

"I think not" the foot solider refuted "to be captured is one of the greatest failures a warrior of the Foot Clan could ever have befall them"

"Well, it looks like you failed big time then" Randy pointed out

"Did I?" the man slyly inquired "did you ever consider why it was so easy to capture me?"

It didn't take long for the team to figure what he meant by that.

"He wanted to be captured!" Kim realized

"But it's not like he can go anywhere" Randy reasoned "We've got him trapped in the Nomicon"

"Unless he wanted to be here" the first Ninja commented

"Smart as ever, Nosu" their captive mentioned

"You wanted to find the Nomicon's location so you could bring it to the Shredder!" Nosu theorized

"Steal it?" the creep repeated questioningly "No…"

Just then, the team of heroes noticed a sudden faint glow emitting from their captive's body, making everyone instinctively take a few steps back as a precaution. No one but Nosu knew what the man was doing, and even the first Ninja could hardly believe what he was witnessing.

"I came to destroy it!" the Foot warrior shouted as his eyes suddenly glowed bright orange

"What the juice!" Randy cried out in a panic

"It can't be…" his sensei said in a low tone "the Genkeidama!"

"The what?" Kim asked

"The soul bomb technique!" Nosu quickly elaborated "It is an ancient ninja style were ones very astral form can be made into bomb in the ethereal realm!"

"Master Shredder taught me this technique for this sole reason!" the man exclaimed "At last the Ninja will be no more!"

"What do we do?!" Penn questioned the others in a panic

"Get out of here!" Nosu commanded

"But sensei—" Randy tried to say

"Go!" the first Ninja shouted as he threw out his hands in front of him

Randy, Penn and Kim were throw out of the Nomicon had back into their physical bodies. The trio instantly snapped back into reality just, Startling Boone and Ron as they sprang back to their feet. The group then looked to where Randy had dropped the Nomicon where the they saw the ancient tome begin to glow orange as red sparks began to fly off from its cover. The current Ninja rushed over to where the book was and attempted to open it, but Nomicon sealed itself shut to keep Randy from reentering it. The tome began to glow brighter as the sparks now flew wildly throughout the room. This however did not dissuade Randy from still trying to open the book. But try as he might, the Nomicon refused to let him back into it.

Acting quickly, Kim and Penn ran over to Randy's side as he still tried desperately to get back into the book. Kim kicked the Nomicon out of the Ninja's hands and sent it hurtling across the garage until it landed a several feet away from them. as this was taking place, the former part-time hero used every ounce of his strength to hold back Randy from going after the book.

"Let me go! Let me go!" the protector of Norrisville demanded as he continued to wrestle out of the other boy's grip

Suddenly, the Nomicon was consumed in a blinding flash of orange light as it exploded from the soul bomb. The blast knocked everyone off balance and sent everyone tumbling to the ground. The commotion attracted Penn's parents, Howard and Rufus as well, making them jump from their seats and rush back into the garage out of fear that their loved ones might have been killed by the unknown blast. Once they stepped inside, they saw pieces of burnt paper falling down to the ground like snowflakes. Everyone appeared unharmed from the blast, but that did not mean that someone wasn't killed. For Randy had lost someone close to him. The Ninja scrambled over to where the Nomicon had blown up in the distant hopes that it had somehow managed to survive, but sadly, that was not the case.

For the NinjaNomicon, the book that held over eight hundred years of knowledge passed down from generation to generation, had been destroyed….

* * *

The only time sleep was necessary for a gargoyle was when the moon fell beyond the horizon and the sun took its place in the sky. While in their stone sleep, gargoyles could heal from any and all wounds that they had received from battle the previous night and be fully healed the night. Even when she was made immortal centuries ago by the Weird Sisters along with Macbeth, Demona still had to enter her own stone sleep due to her inherit biology. Secretly though, the witch longed to see the sun with her own eyes instead of the sightless ones made of rock that formed over her body when the dawns first light overtook her. it wasn't until she managed to capture the mystical trickster known as Puck that she finally got her wish to see and feels the sun's light.

But Puck played a dirty trick on her, as was usual with him. True, Demona could now be able to walk out in the daylight, but now whenever the sun came over the horizon, the gargoyle would morph into that of a human being—the one creature she despised above all else. However, now that she had a human form, she could now go out into the world and masquerade as her alias, Dominic Destine, to those she did business with during the day before transforming back into her true self at night. Because of this and her immortality, Demona did not require sleep, but it was still required of her in order to keep her mind sharp. She had to remind herself that while she could not die from exhaustion like mortals could, she still ran the risk of losing her sanity if she did not remember to sleep for several hours during the day.

However, when the gargoyle slowly opened her eyes, she did not recall falling asleep. In fact, she didn't even remember retiring to the room Shredder had given her during her alliance with the Foot Clan. As the witch's vision slowly returned to her, she could only see a bright light looking down on her. Demona turned her head side to side as she tried to gauge where exactly she was at the moment, but could only see a dark room surrounding her. She tried to move, but could not free herself from the horizontal table that she had been strapped down to. Demona's arms and legs felt lighter, as if they were not even there, giving her the impression that she must have been drugged. The last thing she remembered was setting up her plan with Drakken and Shego to get the Black Sky out of the Foot's fortress, then everything was merely pitch black up until now.

"Some of my subordinates sometimes foolishly ask me if I wished to be immortal" the Shredder's voice said from the darkness of the room

Demona's head turned violently from side to side in order to see where the Shredder was, but could not find her partner anywhere.

"I tell them no. For the gift of immortality is also a curse" Oroku continued "to be denied death for centuries would drive one to the brink of madness. In fact, if the gods gave me an option to either live forever, or die the moment after I slay Hamato Yoshi and his children, I would graciously accept the second choice without a moment's hesitation"

Saki then slowly emerged from the shadows of the room. His eyes were narrowed like sharp blades as he looked down at his entrapped partner. Showing now fear, Demona hissed back at him, knowing that she had more than likely been found out.

"Did you honestly think you could get away with your little deception?" he asked darkly "I assumed you were smarter than that, Demona"

"I guess you beat the truth out of Drakken and Shego then?" the gargoyle gathered

"On the contrary, they told me everything the moment after you tried to include them in your betrayal" Shredder coldly correctly "they may fear you, but they are terrified of me"

" _A mistake they won't live long enough to regret_ " the witch thought to herself

"I would have been more than willing to aide you in whatever vendetta you had planned out of appreciation for helping me find the Black Sky" Oroku offered "but instead you decided to try to go behind my back and attempt to take my weapon away from me!"

"If it wasn't for me you wouldn't have your precious Black Sky!" Demona spat back venomously "I should have never allied myself with you!"

"Enough!" Shredder bellowed "answer me this: just who exactly where planning on unleashing our warrior on? Those Gargoyles you spoke perhaps?"

"If you must know, it was someone else" Demona replied "years ago, someone stole something of great importance to me. I had hopes that the Black Sky could retrieve the item and slay the one who wronged me"

"And this person, what was his name?" Shredder questioned

Demona growled in anger at herself. There was no point in hiding the truth any longer from him.

"Stanford Pines" she admitted "years ago, I was in a small town in Oregon called Gravity Falls after I had heard rumors of gargoyles living in the forests just out the town. It was there I came across Stanford. We did battle until he escaped into the depths of the woods, but not before he took something important from me"

"Which was?" the leader of the foot inquired, his irritation in every word

"A device that could have given me great power" the gargoyle explained "release me, and I'll be willing to overlook this insult"

"I think not" Shredder denied "however, if this device is as powerful as you claim it is, then I will see for myself. Then, and only then, will I consider freeing you"

"You think these straps can hold me?" Demona scoffed "I will free myself soon enough. And when I do, I will show you what means to be mortal!"

"It is funny that you speak of mortality, Demona" Shredder mentioned "for you have proven why I do not wish to be immortal"

Before the gargoyle could ask the leader of the foot what exactly he meant by that, Saki walked over to a small metal tray here proceed to pick up a small hand mirror. He then returned to the captured creature and held up the mirror so that Demona could see her reflection.

"As I said earlier, immortality's gift can be also a curse" he reminded her "simply because one cannot die, does not mean that they are invincible"

Demona didn't reply, for she was to horrified by what she saw in the mirror to even say so much as a word. There staring back at her, was the sight of herself without arms. Or legs. Or a tail. Or even her wings.

"It only makes them all the more fun to torture" Shredder finished

All Demona could do was scream hysterically at the sight before her. Shredder almost felt like smiling at the gargoyle's misery, but he had more important things to attend to at the moment. The story of Demona's lost object enticed the leader of the Foot Clan. If his former partner was willing to try and betray him for it, then it was something that he wanted in his arsenal. Wasteing no more time with his prey, Oroku pulled down a chain with a large meat hook down from the ceiling before unstrapping Demona from the chair and impaling her torso through the hook. All the while she continued to scream. Seeing that his work was done, the Shredder departed the room to let his former alley think about her actions in silence.

Outside of the room, Drakken, Shego and Shredder's mutants where all gathered in front of him, all the while trying not to show their uneasiness front what they could hear on the inside of the room. It was a clear message to the others, one that none of them wished to share.

"Ready the Black Sky" he commanded "I think it is time to give our weapon a proper field test"


	6. In Cold Blood

Chapter Six: In Cold Blood

"Ok, can you see me now?" Dipper asked the girl on the other end of the line

The young teen had been trying for nearly fifteen minutes to get a clear signal to face-time his new girlfriend, the only problem was that it seem that the technology gods decided to work against him and try to his online date night with the girl he loved. Thankfully, the couple had managed to overcome the obstacles and were finally able to see one another. The second he saw his long-distance lover's face, Dipper couldn't help but smile brightly at it. His girlfriend smiled warmly back at him, equally glad to see his face as he was to see hers at long last. The two may have started their relationship online, but their friendship started when Dipper and his twin sister Mabel were visiting Gravity Falls last summer.

The girl in question was none other than Wendy Corduroy, who was once the boy's crush now turned faraway lover. The two had become an item only weeks after the Pines twin's departure from the strange little Oregon town during a long online conversation where Wendy admitted she had started feeling differently about the young boy. Despite being several states apart from one another, they kept their relationship together by staying in constant contact with one another, sometimes talking to one another until the break of dawn on a school day. Not that neither of them cared since last summer showed them that things such as school meant nothing in the grand scheme of the universe.

That previous summer in Gravity Falls was hard to forget for anyone who lived through the madness that the demon known as Bill Cipher unleashed. It was only pure luck that Mason and the others managed to defeat the triangle shaped monster and stop him from tearing the very fabric of reality asunder. Since then, Dipper, Mabel and everyone else's views on the world had drastically changed, for now they knew that there was more to this universe than what they once knew. Admittedly, it was difficult for everyone to just go back to their normal lives after everything that had happened in that strange little town. How could anyone go from saving all life in the universe to reading text books and listening to teachers drone on about things they knew where wrong? The answer was they couldn't.

"Yes, I can see you, you doofus" Wendy teased "How's school?"

"About as boring as yours is" her boyfriend replied, "how's the shack?"

"Surprisingly well" the ginger answered "Soos is actually an awesome manager"

Since Stan and left with his twin brother Ford to travel the world in search of other paranormal threats that could endanger the world, the old con-artist entrusted his beloved Mystery Shack to his top employee, Soos. Since then, the heavyset man had since kept the gift shop up and running and with Wendy and his girlfriend Melody at his side, Soos had managed to make a major profit. During this transitional time, Soos's grandmother had since moved out of her house and into the Mystery Shack, where she took up residence in the room where the twins once lived in.

"What about the creatures in the woods?" Dipper inquired "how are they doing?"

In the aftermath of Bill's devastation, both the human and paranormal residents of the town had come together in a sort of union. While some people knew of the creatures that lurked in the woods and even tried to hide the truth from the general populace, it wasn't until Bill's attack on the town did the people realize that they weren't alone. After the triangle demon was slain, a peace treaty was formed between the two races that was made by the twins before they returned to California. The treaty stated that the humans and creatures would keep their distance from one another. The Humans would have to request permission to enter the forest from the paranormal beings, and likewise, the creatures would have to ask permission to enter the town from the people.

With Dipper, Mabel and their great-uncles gone, it was up to Soos and Wendy to keep the peace between the two races. Luckily, they managed to get help from Gideon and even Pacifica in this endeavor. Even though Bill's evil had been dispelled, there were still those on both sides who would wish to destroy the peace that had finally come to the strange little town. From renegade gnomes to anti-monster groups, it was a full-time job for the red-head and the others to protect the peace in Gravity Falls.

"They're fine for the most part" Wendy answered, "a lot of them just stick to the woods and leave the townspeople alone"

"I wish Mabel and I could be there to help you guys out" her boyfriend regretted

"And so you can make out with me" the ginger mentioned with a grin

"Oh, that's at the top of the list, babe" Mason said without the slightest hint of shame in his words

The couple shared a laugh at that. Ever since they started dating, Dipper had become more confident with speaking to the redhead he loved dearly, and more often than not flirted and teased her during their online conversations. Mabel had once joked to her brother that he was becoming quite the young stud thanks to his growing relationship with the older girl.

"I just miss you so much" Dipper continued "I just want to ditch school and go back to Gravity Falls"

"You know you can't do that, sweetie" the older girl reminded him "As much as I'd love to have you here with me, there's no way your parents would let you just drop everything and live up here without Stan around"

"Yeah, I know…" the boy replied dejectedly before bringing up a question "Have you heard from him and Ford by any chance?"

"Not a word, sadly" Wendy informed him "we we're hoping that you guys had heard from him and Ford actually"

Ever since Stan and Ford had departed, neither the twins nor the con-artist's former employees had heard from either of the brothers since they had departed from Gravity Falls. They didn't fear that they were dead, in fact, the elder set of twins no doubt had probably killed a good number of monsters and madmen since they had decided to travel across the globe together. However, that still didn't keep the group from worrying about the two brothers.

"Well, wherever they are, I'm sure their out kicking ass" the lumberjack's daughter mentioned

Mason made a light laugh before taking on a sudden stoic and solemn expression. Wendy, of course, took notice of this sudden change of pace from her lover. She knew full well that when Dipper became serious, it usually meant that he had done something that he was still not fully on board with.

"Mason?" she began with concern in her voice "is everything ok?"

The teen's younger lover looked away, know that he had been found out. But rather than try to lie to his girlfriend, he instead let out a defeated sigh before speaking.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you, honey" he began "Mabel and I recently joined an organization"

"What, like volunteer group or something?" his girlfriend wondered

"Eh, something like that" Dipper replied "They had heard about what happened in Gravity Falls last summer. I don't know how they knew what happened, but they did. They approached Mabel and I and offered us membership, saying that they knew Ford and that they'd be honored if they had us in their ranks. We tried to tell them that we weren't interested, but they didn't take no for an answer"

"Who are these guys, Mason?" Wendy asked, starting to become hesitant as she did

"I'm still trying to figure that out" the boy admitted "All I know is that they've been around for a long time and have been hiding in the shadows of human history. They call themselves—"

"Yo, Wendy!" Soos's voice suddenly interrupted "I need you to go get the rest of the Stan dolls from out of the shed"

"Perfect timing as always, Soos" Dipper mentioned sarcastically

"Oh hey, Dipper!" the new manager of the Mystery Shack greeted, not knowing that he had killed the mood "What's up, dude!"

"Oh, you know, trying to enjoy an online date and all that" Dipper answered, trying to hide his frustration as he did

"Sounds like your living the dream, dude!" Soos said with a smile, completely unaware of what he was getting in the way of "sorry to cut this short, but I gotta borrow your girlfriend for a bit"

"But—" Dipper attempted to protest

"It's fine sweetie, I promise we'll talk later" Wendy assured him "I love you"

"Love you to…" Mason replied, still upset for having to cut this conversation short

Wendy blew her long-distance lover a kiss that he pretended to catch. However, despite the kind gesture, Mason still appeared as though he was upset that they had to end their conversation so quickly. With that, she switched off the camera and headed for the shed, all the while thinking about what her boyfriend was trying to say. It always worried her that she couldn't be there to help her lover in person, knowing that he sometimes got in over his head from time to time when he didn't think things through. Such was the case with making a deal with Bill, among other things that got both him and everyone the boy thrown into dangerous situation.

Yet despite all that he had done, Wendy still loved him. True, he made his fair share of mistakes, but no matter how bad things got, Dipper and Mabel could manage to pull out a win no matter how dire the situation had become. That was perhaps what the lumberjack's daughter loved most about Mason, for all of his many flaws, he would face every challenge like the man she always knew him to be. It was no secret that the redhead had her fair share of boy's in her life, but Dipper was different. He was kind, smart and cared for her above all else. Wendy knew that Mason and his sister had all the makings of superheroes like Danny Phantom and Kim Possible, their victory over Bill more than proved that they had the potential to become something amazing, and Wendy was more than happy to join her boyfriend's journey to becoming what she always knew him to be.

However, this news of this organization worried her. Who were they? And more importantly, how exactly did they know about the events of last summer? Everyone in Gravity Falls kept a tight lid on what happened when Bill's Weirdmaggdeon nearly wiped out the town and the very fabric of the universe along with it, mostly on the grounds that no one would believe them. there was also the matter of Bill's powers keeping everyone outside of his demonic bubble. So, the question was: who had the resources to know about this? there was the obvious answer of the Society of the Blind Eye, but they had dismantled the cult long before Bill unleashed Weirdmaggdeon. Dipper had mention that this group that he and Mabel had joined had existed for a rather long time, but who could that be?

As Wendy mulled the question in her head as she was approached the shed, an image of a human-shaped shadow on the ground caught her attention. From the angle from which the redhead saw the shadow, it looked as though it was standing atop the roof of the Mystery Shack. Sensing danger, Wendy instinctively spun around to face whoever or whatever was casting the shadow, but when she turned around, no one was there. However, past experiences had taught the teenager that just because you couldn't see something didn't mean it wasn't there waiting to hurt you. Wendy began to carefully scan the roof with her eyes, trying to find even the slightest thing out of place. Soon enough, she noticed that the window Soos's grandmother's room was opened. Now normally this would be a problem for most people, but the old woman hated leaving the window open, saying it let out the cold air and let in the bugs.

With her mind already fearing the worst, Wendy quickly darted back inside the Mystery Shack. The moment she came back inside, Soos and Melody could already tell by her panicked expression that something wasn't right.

"What's wrong, dude?" Soos inquired

"I think someone's trying to break into the Mystery Shack" the redhead told him "your grandmother's window was wide open. You know she doesn't do that, Soos!"

Just then, a loud thump came from the second floor of the Mystery Shack, more specifically, from Soos's grandmother's room. The moment they heard the sound, the trio instantly bolted upstairs and rushed into the old woman's room where they found a horrid sight. There, laying in a pool of her own blood, as Soos's grandmother. Upon seeing the sight, Soos ran over to her and cradled her in his arms. She was still breathing, but each breath she took was shallow and labored.

"Grandma!" Soos said to her in a panic "what did this to you?"

"E-El Diablo…" she said weakly

"Call an ambulance!" Soos commanded to the two women

Melody was already in the process of pulling out her phone and dialing for nine-one-one the second she saw her boyfriend's grandmother laying on the ground. Wendy was just as stunned as the couple was, but she kept her guard up, knowing that whoever or whatever did this was still in the Mystery Shack. As Soos's pulled his vest off and held it down on his grandmother's wound, Wendy saw that the wound across the old woman torso looked like claw marks, but what kind creature in Gravity Falls could do that? or better put, why would they do such thing?

Suddenly, Melody cried out in pain as she tumbled to the ground. The ginger and the heavyset man saw the same three claws marks across her back. Soos and Wendy spun around to see what had attacked her and the old woman. It was human—or least, that's what it appeared to be by its form. It had the shape of a girl, around the same age as Wendy if they had to guess. She was dressed in a black mesh suit with bladed armor over her arms, legs and chest. Three claw-like blades were in-between the knuckles of her gauntlets, one of which dripped with fresh blood. A ninja sword sat sheathed around her waist, ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. But the biggest the trio noticed was the red Oni mask that covered the girl's face.

"Are you kidding me?!" Melody cried out as she tried to stand up "we're getting attacked by a goddam ninja?!"

The ninja said nothing, she instead merely stood where she was, looking back at them in silence. No one cared to ask as to why a ninja was here in the Mystery Shack, all they concerned themselves was living long enough to ask that question later. Wendy knew that it wasn't this going to end well, and if her friends were to survive, then she would have to get their assailants attention drawn on her.

"Soos, you and Melody get your grandmother and get out of here" she told the others with a firm voice as her line of sight stayed on the masked ninja "I got this"

"Wendy, you can't—" her heavyset tried to reason

"It'll be fine, Soos" she assured him in stern voice "I'm gonna paint this place with this bitch's blood!"

Wendy was right. With each passing second, his grandmother lost more blood, and his girlfriend needed medical attention as well. Soos knew that the lumberjack's daughter could handle herself, but this felt different, this time Soos felt that might be Wendy's final fight. He wanted to help her, but his grandmother and girlfriend needed his help more. So, with a heavy heart, Soos picked up the old woman in his arms with Melody staggered to her feet. As they made their way to the doorway, the ninja went into action with her claws at the ready. However, before she cut down the new owner of the Mystery Shack, the redhead tackled the masked girl and pinned her against the wall.

"Go now!" she commanded

Despite wanting to stay, Soos, and Melody took off down the stairs and out of the Mystery Shack while carrying the heavyset man's grandmother while doing so, leaving Wendy to face her adversary alone. The ninja kicked the other girl off her person before swinging her claws at her, but Wendy dodged and grabbed a nearby chair in the hallway and tried to bring it down on her enemy's head, only to have it sliced in half before getting kicked in the stomach and sent falling backwards down to the ground. Wendy quickly rolled out of the away of the ninja's claws before they went through her face. the ginger jumped back to her feet and tackled the other girl once more, only this time she rushed forward toward the stairs where the two combatants tumbled down the stairs.

During the fall, the ninja threw Wendy off her person just as they hit the final step. A hot flash of pain surged from Wendy's side as she forced herself to stand up. She glanced down to she three streaks of dark red now adorned the left of her shirt. It didn't feel like a deep cut, but that didn't lessen the pain none the less. Her opponent jumped back her feet and retracted her claws back into her gauntlets and instead drew out three kunai knives before throwing them at the other girl. As the blades flew toward her, Wendy jumped behind a self of knick-knacks for cover, but that didn't last long as her enemy race forward, leapt over the shelf and tried to come down on her with her claws again.

Luckily, Wendy rolled out of the way of the ninja's claws while at the same time grabbing a Mystery Shack snow globe off of the self in the process. Wendy spun back around and smashed the snow globe over the other girl's head, making her stumble backwards in the process. Seizing the opportunity, the redhead kicked the ninja in the chest and managed to knock her to the floor. She then took hold of the shelf and pulled it down on her still stunned enemy. Wendy stayed silent for several moments as she looked at the wreckage that was now at her feet, waiting to see if her enemy would come back up. After nearly a minute of waiting, it appeared as though victory was hers.

"Got you didn't I, you little sucker!" she mocked before letting out a hiss of pain at her wound

Not even a second after Wendy spoke those words, her armored adversary exploded out from the self she was pinned under with her claws at the ready. Wendy was shocked to see that the ninja was apparently uninjured, possibly due to the armor she was wearing. The bladed attacker lunged at her redhaired adversary, this time catching off her opponent off guard. A set of the masked warrior's claws slash across Wendy's arm, making her cry out in pain. The ninja's second set of claws were coming up to cut into her torso, but Wendy grabbed the ninja by the wrist and stopped her before punching her face with everything she had. The ginger then took the other girl by the collar of her armor and flung across the room and into a wall.

Seeing that fighting hand to hand was a lost cause, Wendy instead opted to take on her enemy with weapons of her own. Fortunately, she knew exactly where Stan kept his multiple firearms throughout the Mystery Shack. Shen ran over to the check-out counter and leapt over it. once she was there, she reached under the counter and pulled out a Winchester rifle. Wendy took aim just as her opponent was starting to pick herself off of the ground and fired. The bullet struck the ninja in left side of her body, but Wendy couldn't tell if it pierced her armor of not from where she was standing. But rather than make any sound to indicate that she was in pain, the masked warrior only stumbled back slightly before finally getting back to her feet.

Wendy didn't care if this was some secret ninjutsu training or some kind of nonsense like that, all she knew was that if she wanted to bring down her attacker, one bullet was not going to do the trick. Quickly taking aim once more, the lumberjack's daughter fired off two more rounds, this time aiming directly at the ninja's chest. The bullets hit dead-on, ripping holes into the armor as the struck the other girl's organs and thereby causing her to collapse in a heap on the floor. Rather than think that victory was hers, Wendy cautiously approach's the masked assailants seemingly lifeless body, all the while keeping the rifle pointed at her enemy as she did.

Suddenly, the ninja's eyes snapped opened. Before Wendy had a chance to react, the masked attacker drew another kunai knife and impaled through her leg. The lumberjack's daughter let out an agenized cry as her enemy jumped to her feet and sliced the rifle in Wendy's hands in half with a single clean motion. Wendy staggered backwards, fighting the pain that now surged through her leg with every step she took. It was impossible for even someone with armor to survive to bullets to the chest, unless they weren't human to begin with. Again, Wendy didn't bother with asking with how this was possible and instead focused on how she was going to try to kill something may not be able to kill.

With everything she had, the redhaired girl yanked the knife out of her leg with a cry of agony before throwing back at her opponent. However, the ninja swatted the oncoming knife with a swipe of her claws, sending it flying into a nearby wall. If this was someone like Bill or the Shape-shifter, they would be mocking the redhead about her coming demise, but the bladed ninja remained silent as she slowly advanced toward Wendy who was still limping backward from her adversary. The ninja was like a slasher in the horror movies the redhead had seen in her life, only this was real life, and there was no guarantee that she was going to make it out of this alive.

She had done battle with demons and ghosts, but never had she faced such an enemy like this before. Wendy had been scared before, but she always fought through her fears and had always managed to pull through with Dipper and her friends at her side. But this was different, she was alone and to wounded to keep fighting. Despite the adrenaline that was coursing through her veins, the blood loss she was suffering from her wounds was starting to make feel light headed and her vision start to become blurry. But if this was her final stand, then she would go out fighting.

With a strong war cry, Wendy attempted to throw a punch at her foe, but with a single swing of her claws, the masked warrior severed her arm at the elbow, making Wendy screamed in agony as she collapsed to her knees next her removed arm in defeat, clutching her now empty socket as she did. This was end, Wendy didn't want to admit it to herself, but it was. she began to think about her friends and family and what their lives would be like without her, but more importantly, she thought about Mason. The boy and the older girl had just formed a relationship and now by the seeming decree of the universe, they were about to be separated. but if there was any consolation to this tragedy, the ninja was unaware of the hell that was about down on her head and whoever she was possibly working with. There would be no place on earth were the masked killer could run where Mason Pines couldn't find her and make her suffer for she had done.

The ninja grabbed Wendy by the throat and hoisted her up to make her face her while she readied her claws for the final blow. But rather than face her end begging and pleading for her life, the redhaired girl merely gave her killer a weak, mocking, smile before spitting a mouth full of blood at her assailants masked face.

"I hope you've made peace with God, bitch" she warned firmly "Because my boyfriend is gonna to send you to hell in pieces"

With that, the ninja's claws impaled themselves through Wendy's chest. The teen's final breath wheezed out of her mouth as her life left her body. Wendy's now lifeless body hung from the ninja's claws for several moments before the masked killed tossed the fresh corpse to the ground. The ninja looked at the body at her feet with curiosity, as if this girl's death harkened back to some faint memory she had long since forgotten. She slowly put her hand to her own chest and tried to imagine what her victim's final thoughts were. Were they of loved ones? Were they of thoughts of all the regrets in her life? the ninja couldn't say, all she needed to concern herself with was finding the item that her master had sent her to retrieve.

* * *

"Is it over?" Drakken tentatively asked his partner as he continued to cover his eyes

Drakken was no stranger to violence. He had carved out an evil empire through force, but after seeing the sheer brutality that the Black Sky had unleashed on the girl who had tried to fight her, he almost felt like throwing up. While both he and Shego would love nothing more than to see Kim Possible dead at their feet, but not torn to pieces as this girl was. They may be villains, but the partners in crime always carried themselves with a sort of code of honor. But after witnessing the brutal murder of the teen, they felt as though they had broken that code.

"Yeah…it's over" Shego glumly confirmed

There was a reason Shredder sent Drakken and Shego to Gravity Falls other than to keep a close eye on the Black Sky during her first mission: he wanted to make sure that they got the message to never try to betray him like they had Demona. Tiger Claw had gone with them as extra insurance, which currently he was watching the Black's Sky through a set of binoculars alongside Shego. The group was hiding several yards away from the building in the depths of the forest. They had traveled to this little town secretly via a private jet the previous night, and despite the exhaustion the blue-skinned scientist and his partner felt, Tiger Claw forced them to carry out their part of this assignment.

Though it wasn't so much an assignment so much as it was a warning for the villainous duo. Not that they needed it though, considering that what the Shredder did to Demona was still fresh in their minds. The sounds of the gargoyle's screams still echoed in the pair's minds whenever they tried to get any sleep. Drakken always thought himself to be one of the most ruthless villains on the planet, but Oroku Saki completely changed his view on that. Shredder was cold, calculating and above all, ruthless to those he deemed his enemies. When Drakken started working with Oroku, he assumed that he was just some ninja with a gimmick like Monkey Fist, but now he knew better. Shredder wasn't just some ordinary villain, he was a monster.

"Magnificent…" Tiger Claw said in almost a state in wonder "I knew the Black Sky was the ultimate warrior, but I never imagined she could this lethal"

"Yeah, killing some untrained teenager doesn't qualify Shred-head's attack dog as the 'ultimate warrior'" Shego chided "It just means she's a murderer"

The man-tiger let out a growl at that remark as he unsheathed his claws. Luckily, Drakken quickly jumped in a defused the situation.

"What Shego means is that she hasn't had a worthy opponent yet" the blue-skinned scientist reasoned

Tiger Claw stood in slience for several seconds as he judged the worth of Drakken's words. he then retracted his claws, making the partners in crime breathe a sigh of relief.

"She will soon" the mutant assured "This was merely a test run"

Just then, the Black Sky jumped down from the trees and landed behind Drakken, instantly making him shriek in terror before quickly moving out of her way and standing behind Shego for protection. The Black Sky said nothing as she walked over to Tiger Claw and hand him what she had been sent to retrieve from within the confines of the building. It was a small brown, wooden box, one that had been hidden away in the lab of one Stanford Pines for years until now. However, when Drakken saw what they had come to claim, he was not impressed.

"Wait, that's what this is all about? A stupid box?!" he shouted

"This is no box, you fool!" Tiger Claw snarled "If Demona was telling the truth, then this could bring about a new era in the history of the Foot Clan!"

"So, what is it?" Shego inquired

"I do not know" the man-tiger admitted "But Master Shredder will know what to do with it once we bring it to him"


	7. Aftermath

Chapter Seven: Aftermath

It was gone.

Over eight hundred years of knowledge passed down from one Ninja to the next, and in the blink of an eye, it was destroyed. As Randy held a handful of the burnt cinders of the pages of the Nomicon, he could only feel a sense of shame within himself for what he had done. Because of him, he had effectively ended the legacy of the Ninja. But it was much more than that for Randy. Not only had he lost the Nomicon, he had also lost his teacher. Nosu may have been a pain the ass at times, but the young hero had nothing but respect for him and took each teaching he learned to heart—even though he had to learn the lesson twice at times.

But that was all gone now. Because of his idiotic idea to allow the creep into the Nomicon, he had paved the way for The Foot to destroy the last remnant of their ancient foe and he was left without a teacher. There was still so much that the ancient tome had yet to teach the teen in its ways, now that could never be due to his negligence. In one sheer act of stupidity, he had made himself the last ninja of Norrisville. He had failed before, but never on a grand scale like this, and this time he would have the Nomicon to aide him or advise him.

Hours after their captive used his very soul to destroy the Nomicon, the group of young heroes had since left the garage and had made Penn's home their base of operations for the time being. In all honesty though, they had no idea what to do next. Their only lead turned the tables on them, and what he had told before he kamikazed the ancient tome left the group shaken to their very core. They were at a total loss of direction, even Kim was unsure what their next move should be. She had gotten in touch with her tech whiz, Wade, to find any other information on the Foot Clan that they hadn't already learned from Randy and the creep's confession, but other than that, there wasn't much they could do.

The part-time hero was still trying to mentally process all that had just happened. Before the creep managed to destroy the Ninja's book, he had revealed that his girlfriend was in fact some sort of living weapon and was now in league with a clan of ninjas. Penn refused to believe that the woman he loved would willing ally herself with the very monsters who doubt slaughtered her entire family like cattle. But as the creep had said, their master had ways of convincing Sashi to join them. What both confused and infuriated the redhead to no end was the fact that Phyllis apparently knew about his lover's true self and refused to tell anyone about and merely use her as a weapon in their war for the Multiverse.

Penn thought that his former boss, as strange as she was, was someone he could at least trust, but that was no longer the case now. He had told Boone and his parents about this revelation, and while they theorized that it was just the last wound their captive wanted to inflict before he launched his attack to plant a seed a doubt and distrust among the group, Penn had a strong gut feeling that what the man had told was true. But he couldn't let his anger toward Phyllis cloud his thoughts now. He needed to find Sashi and save her from herself if at all possible. However, it was going to be difficult considering that their only lead had blown himself up. It was up to Wade to help them find a new lead now, in the meantime, the team had to do the one thing Penn hated most: wait.

While they knew that their son was hurt by everything he heard when he went into the Nomicon, Brock and Vonnie gave Penn the space he needed to process everything. They also did the same for Kim and the others, who were also greatly affected by everything that happened. In their time as part-time heroes, the husband and wife time had faced their shares of tough choices, but they never experienced something as the pain that was just inflicted upon their son and his new friends. The best they could do was back off for a bit and talk to them when the moment was right.

Currently, the group of heroes were currently lounging in the kitchen, still reeling from their time in the Nomicon. Penn was leaning against the doorway to the living room with his arms crossed while Boone stood next to him. Kim was pacing back and forth, waiting to hear from Wade. Ron was busying himself with feeding Rufus. As for Randy, he was silently leaning against the table with the ashes of the Nomicon cupped in his hand.

"Hey man…" a voice began cautiously "are you ok?"

Randy slowly turned away from the cinders in his hands and looked up at Howard, who had a look of concern on his face. Penn, Kim and Ron where standing back a bit, wanting to give the fellow some space after the loss he had just suffered.

"No Howard, I'm not ok!" Randy shot back "I just allowed some nut job to destroy the Nomicon! So, I am pretty freaking far from ok right now!"

"Look, I know your upset—" his best friend attempted to say

"Oh, don't you even give me that shit, Howard!" Randy snapped "You hated that book since day one! Your probably happy it's gone!"

"Well, I mean, I'm kinda happy it's gone" Howard admitted before quickly adding on "But not like this dude—I swear! But hey, look on the bright side, at least you won't be mindwiped"

"Don't you get it, Howard?!" Randy exclaimed furiously "The Nomicon can't pick another person to replace me after I'm gone! I'm the last Ninja!"

"Whoa easy, Randy" Penn tried to ease his friend "it's not Howard's fault the Nomicon's gone"

"Your right, it's mine!" the Ninja proclaimed, "If wasn't so goddam stupid then maybe I wouldn't have caused my sensei's death!"

"Randy, you couldn't have known that this would happen" Kim attempted to calm her friend down

"But I should've!" the Ninja shot back "The Nomicon tried to teach me never to walk into a situation like this blindly, but I did and now it's gone!"

In a fit of blind anger, Randy grabbed a nearby glass and hurled against the wall, causing it to shatter upon impact with it. Penn's parents quickly darted back into the room, fearful that the Ninja's growing rage could make turn on and their son and the others. Kim and Ron and tensed up as they instinctively readied themselves for a fight with their friend. They didn't want to engage in a fist fight with the Ninja, but in his current state, they might be the only ones who could bring him down should he turn on them.

Despite still trying to grasp the reality of everything that happen, Penn knew that he needed to defuse the situation at once. He knew Randy was in pain and could lash out at them in a heartbeat, and the last thing Penn wanted was for the group to divided. He motioned for his parents and the teen agents to stand down before he slowly approached the Ninja.

"We were all fooled by that bastard, Randy" Penn reasoned "look, I understand that your angry, but you can't turn that anger on yourself or us. If you want to hate someone, hate the Foot Clan, they're the ones who did this. We need to stay together if we're going to stop them and save Sashi"

To further his point, Randy placed his hand on the Ninja's shoulder as a sign of peace.

"Please, Randy…" he continued "we need you"

Randy stood silent for several seconds before finally giving his friend a nod in understanding. Everyone mentally breathed a sigh in relief at the fact that the situation didn't further escalate into a fight. Just then, Kim's communicator went off, signaling that wade had managed to find something. Penn and the others gathered around the girl in anticipation for whatever he had discovered on their foe.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked, "did you find anything on the Foot?"

"No, these guys are good at covering their tracks" Wade admitted "but I did however manage to pick up on this little bit of news out of a little town in Oregon that might interest you"

The young genius then pulled up a screen that showed the image of a what looked like some sort of tourist gift shop with police tape surrounding it.

"There was a break-in at this place called the Mystery Shack. The store's manager, his girlfriend and grandmother were attacked by who they claim was a girl dressed as a ninja" he explained "sadly, their employee, fifteen-year-old Wendy Corduroy, was killed by the ninja before she fled the scene"

That last sentence struck Penn and Boone like a sack of bricks to the stomach. The former part-time hero refused to think that the assailant was the woman he loved, knowing that she would never take the life of someone that wasn't her enemy. Boone on the other hand, had other thoughts. He feared that whatever had happened to Sashi had somehow altered into this new feral state of mind.

"Penn…" the former wiseman began

"It wasn't her, Boone!" his friend cut him off "It wasn't…"

"Girlfriend or not, this still doesn't make any sense" Ron pointed out "why attack some gift shop out in the middle of nowhere?"

"Beats me, nothing was reported stolen during the break-in" Wade commented "but there have been some weird rumors about the town that this gift shop is in"

"What do you mean?" Kim inquired

"The town is called Gravity Falls, and it's been a hotspot for stories of the paranormal for decades" the tech wiz furthered "aliens, monsters, time-travel. You name it, they've been said to have it"

"Even if that's the case, it still doesn't explain why the Foot would be interested in a gift shop" Randy mentioned

"There's only way to find out" Penn began "we need to go to Gravity Falls"

"Uh, yeah, did you forget the fact that Oregon is pretty far from here?" Ron brought up

"Relax Ron, I can pull a few strings with some of my dad's friends to get us a quick ride there" his girlfriend reassured

"We should come with you" Penn's father spoke up "If these Foot guys are as dangerous as you say they are, then we should be there with you kids"

"I appreciate it dad, but you can't" his son denied "you guys have to stay here and make sure Boone and Howard are safe"

"I'm sorry what?" Howard chimed in, clearly confused as to why he was suddenly apart of this conversation

"These Foot guys mean business, Howard" Randy added on "they know who I am and probably know who you are as well. You need to lay low until we stop these guys"

"Oh great, now I'll have to figure out another lie for my parents to believe I'm not in mortal danger" Howard grunted, unhappy by this turn of events

"You should probably stay here to, Rufus" Ron told his naked mole rat "this stuff is kinda heavy, and I don't wanna see you hurt"

Rufus made a noise that could've mistaken for one of sadness and dejection. As for Penn, he had pulled his parents aside in order to speak with them in private.

"We want to come with you, Penn" his mother stated, "We just became a family again, and I can't stand the thought of us being torn apart again"

"I have to do this, mom" Penn replied "I can't let these monsters take Sashi away from me. I know your both worried about me, but the woman I love is in danger and Howard and Boone can't protect themselves like me and the others can. So, they'll be safer here with you than with us. You guys taught me never to back down from a fight, and I'm especially not backing down from one when someone I love's life is on the line"

Both Brock and Vonnie knew that they couldn't dissuade their son from this course at this point, but they knew that he was more than capable of handling himself, especially with the likes of Kim Possible and the Ninja backing him up in this endeavor. As they spoke to one another, Boone approached the Zero family.

"I'm coming with you dude, and there's not a thing you can do about it" the Wiseman declared "Sashi's my friend to, and since she's not around, I've gotta be the one to keep you in check"

Knowing that there was no way he could talk his friend out of staying behind, Penn merely nodded in agreement to allow him to tag along. He should've known better than to try and keep Boone from staying behind. While the former part-time Wiseman could be a bit of a coward at times, he would forever remain steadfast and loyal to his best friend. However, despite having both old and new friends at his side, Penn still feared what was to come next.

* * *

Before they returned to New York, Tiger Claw had already sent news that the Black Sky's mission was a success. Granted, there were several people who escaped from the scene while the ultimate warrior only killed one of the building's occupants number, but Oroku was willing to overlook this minor mishap, for his prized weapon still obtained the item he had sought out. He still had no ideas as to what the device exactly, but if Demona was willing to try to go as far as attempt to betray him for it, then it must be of great importance and power. Power that he and he alone would wield.

Like the gargoyle, Shredder had his fair share of enemies, and at the top of that list was Hamato Yoshi and his accused turtles. But it wasn't just his old rival and his sons that Saki wanted dead, but their allies as well. Other mutants were becoming a growing problem for his operations here in New York, not to mention the growing pressure of the police was also starting to interfere with the mobs he had control over as well. It wasn't just the enemies that he already had, but also the others he knew he would have to face in the future that also vexed him.

From the Ninja of Norrisville to the ghost-boy in Amity Park, Shredder knew that these so-called heroes and others like them would one day have to face them if the Foot Clan was to thrive in this world. But now that he had the Black Sky at his side, his victory over his enemies in both the present and the future was assured, and with whatever it was that Demona had wanted now also in his possession, nothing could challenge him now.

As Oroku sat upon his throne, Tiger Claw and his team entered the room. The Black Sky stood the of the man-tiger's side before walking past him and approach her master with the small box she had taken from the Mystery Shack in her hand. Dr. Drakken and Shego hung back and stayed close to the doorway, obviously not wanting to stay longer than they needed to be. The Shredder narrowed his cold gaze upon the two villains, who looked away from him, clearly intimidated by his glare alone. While the villainous duo did the smart thing and told him of Demona's betrayal, the leader of the Foot Clan was starting to grow tired of them now that they had served their purpose to him.

"You have done well, my child" Saki said to his living weapon as she walked up to him

"Thank you, master" the Black Sky acknowledged

The living weapon's ability was beginning to return to her, but she did not say much, not that her master cared. The Shredder only concerned himself with the Black Sky's skills as a warrior and that she followed his orders without question. It mattered not to him if weather or not she could speak again after her resurrection. Personally, Oroku would've preferred it if all of his subordinates lacked the ability to speak, if only to relieve himself of their constant excuses and complaints. The Black Sky then handed her master the box she had stolen from the Mystery Shack, but just before he could open it and see what Demona's lost treasure was, Shego suddenly spoke up.

"There's something that Ol' Hobb here forgot to mention in his little report" she said, earning an irritated growl from the armored villain "when your zombie girl was fighting that other girl, she took at least three bullets that should've killed her and still kept going. Any guesses on how that would happen?"

Upon hearing Shego's words, Shredder noticed the bullet holes in his weapon's armor. It was true that the armor of the Foot Clan could withstand much, but bullets could still pierce it regardless, and while the Black Sky was the greatest warrior on the planet, even she could not survive being shot as many times as she was. It perplexed Oroki until a theory came across his mind, one that could be the only explanation for his warrior's miraculous recovery from the wounds that by all means should've killed her.

"It was the mutagen" Shredder concluded "when I injected her body with it, I thought that it would only enhance her speed and agility. Clearly it has done much more than that"

"So, she has a healing factor now? Great, so you've essentially made the perfect killing machine" Drakken commented before being glared at by his employer "Which is totally cool by the way!"

"Leave us" he firmly ordered the blue-skinned scientist and his partner

The pair didn't need to be told twice. They quickly left the Shredder's throne room and returned to their lab, leaving Oroku to speak with his underlings in private.

"I grow tired of their presence" he said to his second in command

"Shall I have them taken care of, master?" Tiger Claw inquired

"Not yet. No doubt they are on guard since they know their usefulness is coming to an end" Shredder answered, "for now, let us focus on whatever it was Demona was trying to hide from me"

With a slight twinge of anticipation, Shredder carefully opened the box and looked inside to see its prized contents. However, as he looked upon the object within the box, a surge of rage coursed through his body. With a snarl of anger, Oroku shot up from his throne and storm out of the room and headed toward the room where he had left his former partner to rot. While the Black Sky remained steadfast and stoic at her post, Tiger Claw was confused as to what had enraged his master so.

* * *

Manly Dan was known by that nickname for a reason. He was the living embodiment of what a man should be: strong, masculine and above all else, be able to protect their families. But Dan wasn't able to protect his wife from the cancer that ate her away into a withered corpse. All he could do was watch as the disease ravage the woman he had been in love with since middle school, all the while trying to keep his children and himself together. His wife remained bright and positive throughout the ordeal, even in her final hours on this earth she kept smiling and always told him that he would still be an excellent father without her to help him.

But as Dan looked upon the lifeless body of his eldest child laying before him atop a table in the morgue, he knew that he had failed his wife. Wendy was so much like her mother that at times the lumberjack swore that the love of his life was speaking through her at times. He always thought that he'd be there to see it all, her wedding, her first child, but that was all gone now. Dan never imagined that he would be here, even during Bill's reign he was certain that his little girl could pull through like she had done. It made no sense to the lumberjack that whoever was in charge of the universe would allow his child to stop Bill's attempted destruction of the world and yet be cut down during a break-in. He should've known that something like this would happen if he allowed her to stay and work at the heart of everything that was wrong with this town, but she loved her job to much for him to just take it away from her.

When Dan received the news that destroyed his life, he at first refused to believe it, at first thinking it was all some sick joke. But when the truth finally set in, he found himself screaming in denial as he went about smashing every piece of furniture in his living room. Amidst his rage, his sons were scared and confused of his outburst, at first thinking that he had been fired from his job. The lumberjack thought the worst moment in his life would be finding out that his daughter had been killed: he was wrong. The worst moment of his life was in fact telling his three sons that their older sister wasn't coming home. He had taught them to be strong and never to show ones' tears, but when they learned of their sibling's death, they wept, thus leading Dan's rage to turn into sadness.

There was a part of the hulking man that this was all some sick joke and that at any minute Wendy was going to jump up from the slab and shout 'boo!' in his face. but as much as he would prefer all this to be a prank, that sadly wasn't the case. Dan had to also consider Wendy's friends as well. When their attacker broke into the Mystery Shack, the so-called ninja severely wounded Soos's girlfriend and grandmother, and while Melody looked as though she could make a recovery, the condition of Soos's grandmother remained up in the air. It was because of Wendy that they had managed to make their escape, if there was anything about that could give Dan the smallest amount of cold comfort it was that his daughter went out swinging like he always taught her.

"Goodbye, princess…" he said to her body "you hug your mama extra tight for me when you see her"

Suddenly, the lights the morgue began to flicker, making Dan almost jump in surprise. The mountain of a man scanned the area around him with his eyes, trying to see what was causing the disturbance, and in a town like this, the reason could range from ghosts to creatures from another dimension. Just as quickly lights flickered, they returned to normal, however, they revealed a new figure standing just outside the light to hide their face from the lumberjack. The newcomer was tall and dressed in a black shirt, blue jeans, black boots and had a long black coat over them. From what Dan could tell, the stranger also had a well-built body to them as well. Dan tensed up and put up his fists up, thinking that this man came looking for a fight, one Dan was more than ready to oblige him to.

"It's alright, Mr. Corduroy" the stranger said calmly "It's just me"

To show that he meant no harm, the stranger stepped into the light to reveal himself to the grieving father. When he did so, Dan gasped in shock upon seeing who was currently look back at him.

"It can't be…" he tried to reason to himself "Mason?"

when Dan last saw Dipper and his sister, Mabel, they were short, frail and harmless. However, the woodcutter remembered Wendy once telling him that Mason and his sister had a bit of a growth spurt since they had returned to their home in California, but she never mentioned the muscles he had apparently put on during his time away from Gravity Falls. Ever since Wendy and Mason had started their online relationship, Dan held some reservation toward the boy. While he hailed both him and his family as heroes, that still didn't mean he could date his daughter without being looked upon as someone as a threat to his child's well-being as any father should. But as the woodcutter looked at the teen who was currently standing before him, he had clearly come through some major changes—not all of whom were caused by puberty.

At first, Mason opened his mouth to say something, but then when he saw Wendy's body on the table, he walked over to her. The teen reached down and gently brushed aside a few stray hairs that where in his lover's face before he gently caressed her cold cheek, all the while a tear fell from his eye and onto her face, making it look as though she was the one weeping.

"I wanted to see you so badly again, sweetheart" he told his deceased lover "But not like this…"

As he watched his daughter's boyfriend continue to stroke her face, a deep feeling of anger began to boil within the pit of Dan's stomach. everything that happened to his child could be traced back to this boy standing right in front of him. How dare he have the nerve to just show up out of nowhere and see Wendy when she gone and not when she needed him the most? It was a thought that fueled the grieving man's rage to the point where he was ready to do something about it.

"This is all your fault!" he accused furiously "She would've been safe if your family hadn't dragged her into all this!"

With his rage boiling over, Dan let out a rage-fill cry as he lunged at the teen with his fist held up and ready to break every bone in Mason's body. But just before his fist could connect, Dipper suddenly evaded the intended punch by quickly side-stepping to the left. The moment he had evaded the punch, the teen came up from behind Dan and put him in a surprise choke hold. The lumberjack was about to try and break out of the hold on him until he felt the muscles underneath Mason's jacket flex as a sign that he was willing to hold on until the hulking man had passed out.

It didn't make any sense to Dan. When Dipper and his sister were here last summer, he was a scrawny little boy who didn't know how to fight, but yet here he was, holding the lumberjack down in a firm grip around his neck. Whatever had Mason had been up to since his time back in California had changed him drastically. If Dan didn't know any better, he'd almost admit that he was a little intimidated by a boy who he once thought was nothing more than a toothpick. Not wanting to have this situation to escalate any further, Dan relaxed his body as a sign that he didn't want to continue the fight any further, allowing Mason to release his hold on him.

"Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" he asked, as he tried to catch his breath "and how did you get here so fast for that matter?"

"Mabel and I join an organization that taught us how to fight" Mason replied simply "They also gave transportation when we heard news about Wendy's death"

"And what exactly is this little organization?" Dan inquired suspiciously

"It's better that you don't know" Dipper informed him firmly "all that you need to know is that they're going to help me find whoever did this and make them pay. Which is why I came to see you"

"Me? But why?" Dan asked, confused

"Because your Wendy's father. Your word matters more than anyone else's" the teen answered "I want so badly to just make whoever did this to her suffer, but in order to do that, I'm going to have to go to some very dark places. So, I came to get your permission to do that. If you tell me no, that all of this would only damage Wendy's memory, then I'll end this before it even starts. But if you tell me yes, then I want you to know that there will be lines that have to be crossed to get the revenge she deserves"

Dan stayed silent as he thought over his daughter's lover's words. The way he spoke sounded as though he was more than willing and able to carry the most heinous of acts to avenge Wendy, and after witnessing firsthand what he was capable of, he believed that Mason could back up what he had said. It still disturbed the lumberjack by how much the teen had changed, but he knew that if anyone could find his daughter's killer, it would be him. but the question still hung in his mind: was he willing to allow this? could he really stand by and let Mason commit whatever horrible acts he saw fit to give Wendy the justice she deserved?

Then he looked over to his daughter's body…

All he could think about was what must have it been like for Wendy in her final moments. Was she scared? Was she brave? Did she die begging for her life? the thoughts and images that ran through Dan's mind of what must have been like for his eldest child at the end of life reignited his anger as he began to think about his daughter's killer how they must have felt after slaying his child—more than likely they felt nothing and only concerned themselves with getting away. It was time that the ones responsible for this start to feel something: fear.

"Yes" he finally said, "You make those bastards pay and you don't stop until they're all dead!"

Mason didn't verbally reply, he instead gave a solemn nod in acknowledgment. He then reached into his jacket and pulled out something Dan thought he would never see again: Wendy's hat.

"I know it's not much, but I think this should belong to you" he said as he held it out to his lover's father

Dan reached out for it, but then retracted his hand before he could take it.

"Keep it" the lumberjack told him "It'll remind you why you're doing this"

Again, Mason nodded in understanding before placing the hat back in his jacket.

"Mabel's going to stay here in Gravity Falls to help your family and Soos while I'm gone. She's at the hospital explaining all this to him right now" Dipper informed him "don't bother asking her where I'm going, she won't tell you. All you need to know is that I'm going to avenge your daughter"

He then walked back over to Wendy's body and leaned down to kiss her cold, lifeless lips as deeply as he would if she were still alive.

"I will always love you, Wendy Corduroy" he whispered in her ear

Just then, the lights began to flicker like they did when Mason first arrived. Once they returned to normal, the teen had vanished without a trace.

* * *

The anger that was boiling red hot in every fiber of Oroku's being was indescribable. After seeing what he had gone through so much trouble to obtain, he was beyond furious. He had run the risk for exposing his clan in order to claim Demona's lost prize, and he was cheated! The only reason the gargoyle would go through all this trouble was to spite him for catching onto her betrayal and was hiding the location of the object she truly wanted. As he threw open the doors to the room he had left the gargoyle, he found her still swinging helplessly on the meat hook he had impaled her upon.

"Witch!" he roared up at her "You dare to deceive me further?!"

"I take it you found my lost item" Demona surmised

"You mean this?!" Shredder demanded sharply as he held up the box for her to see

Shredder ripped off the lid to the box before yanking out the item that had been hidden within it for the gargoyle to see.

"All of this for a pair of scissors?!" you shouted up her "You are either hiding the item you truly wanted from me or simply quite vain!"

Demona began to make a strange, guttural sound from the bottom of her throat that soon began to grow into a wicked, almost insane, cackle. This sudden burst of laughter only deepened the leader of the Foot Clan rage.

"You don't get it, do you?" Demona continued to laugh "the scissors are the item I wanted!"

"But why?!" Shredder demanded "and do not lie to me!"

"That pair of scissors contains a great power within it" the witch began "One that I'd be willing to overlook this betrayal and show you if you put me back together"

"You dare speak to me of betrayal?!" Oroku snapped back "You tried to steal the Black Sky away from me in order to steal this for yourself!"

"Like I said, I'm willing to work past this setback if you return my limbs to me" Demona offered "In return, I will show you the true power you wield in your hands"

Shredder narrowed his eyes up at Demona in suspicion as he mentally judged the worth of her words. he knew from the start that the witch was not to be trusted, and even now with all of her limbs removed she could still be trying to deceive him for her own ends. But if what she was saying was true, then he had to see this power for himself. So, without giving it another thought, he left the room and left the gargoyle hanging while he went to fetch her severed limbs. Due to her immortality, Shredder couldn't destroy them since they were still a part of her being, so he had them locked away in a private vault in the hopes that he could unlock the secret of Demona's immortality, not for himself, but those with great financial power that he could exploit for their money and resources for his own gain.

He soon returned with the gargoyle's removed body parts that he had kept in a sack. He then lowered the meat hook down the ground before opening the sack and reattaching the severed limbs back onto Demona's body. The muscular and sinew began to stick together once it was close enough to the witch's body. Soon enough, Demona was fully restored to her original self again. After pulling herself free from the meat hook that was still lodged in her spine, she directed her attention back to the Shredder.

"The scissors, please?" she asked with an outstretched hand

"If this is another one of your tricks, I will cut you into even smaller pieces this time" Oroku warned darkly as he handed her the item

Demona merely gave him a small smirk from the corner of her lips, as if she was certain she was going to prove her wrong. She then opened the scissors before holding them outward in front of her. She then began to make a cutting motion straight down. As she did, the astonishing happened right before Shredder's eyes. A portal began to form right in front of the pair until finally it was fully formed. Oroku had seen portals before during his partnership with the Krang, but he had never seen one created out of thin air from a pair of scissors before. Truly, this was worth stealing to have such a power in the Foot Clan's possession.

"Come and see" Demona said to him, gesturing for him to follow her through the portal


End file.
